The various ways of dealing with the agreements between PP and Vox have spread confusion in the PP due to the absence of a clear guideline to the regional presidents. The oldest in the place think so, accustomed to the iron power that former president José María Aznar imposed on the party, where the autonomy that the barons now have was unknown. All in all, Alberto Núñez Feijóo is convinced that “the noise will pass.”
The president of the PP endorsed the two models yesterday, that of the Valencian Carlos Mazón and that of María Guardiola from Extremadura, both present, together with Feijóo, at the inauguration of the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, whose absolute majority has allowed it to be the first to achieve the investiture after 28-M. Mazón and Guardiola sat together, talked in a relaxed way and were the stars of the event, which was also attended by Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, president of Castilla y León, Gonzalo Capellán, next president of La Rioja, and the party leader in Castilla-La Mancha, Francisco Núñez, one of the few who will not govern.
No problem between Mazón and Guardiola, not even when they shared Ayuso’s office, before the act, first alone, together with other barons, and then in the presence of Feijóo. But there is some tension between the rest of the popular barons and Extremadura, say PP sources. They object to the way in which Guardiola expressed himself regarding Vox, considering that he exceeded himself and they understand that his words leave his teammates in a bad place. It was Esperanza Aguirre who gave voice to that feeling: “Mrs. Guardiola says that she admits everything except Vox, because I don’t know what she intends to do,” said the former Madrid president at the same event. Aguirre believes that Guardiola’s words harm the interests of the PP leader, because the socialist Guillermo Fernández Vara is going to present himself for the investiture, “and that will be what is discussed during the campaign and not PP proposals.” On the contrary, Aguirre was full of praise for Mazón who “without giving three quarters to the town crier, and quickly, has made an agreement that includes freedom of choice of language in schools.”
From outside, however, neither Mazón feels offended by Guardiola –so he says– nor does he believe that with his words he has pilloried the former, because, both agree, “each community is different”. They understand, Feijóo too, that there is some confusion in the PP and on the street, but the president of the PP is convinced that “the noise will pass” when the governments are formed, and then, he assures, the voters will understand it. In fact, it is very difficult to find someone in the party who criticizes the pacts with Vox, say popular sources.
Feijóo, asked which model he prefers, if the Valencian or the Extremaduran, stressed that his model is that of an absolute majority as clear as that obtained by Ayuso. It is “the model of the absolute majorities of Madrid, La Rioja or Galicia”, he said, which have been, he recalled, the ones he has always had and which he does not renounce now in Spain. It is the majority, he said, “of the great victories.” That is why he asks the Spanish for “a direct mandate from the polls” and assures them that he will not disappoint them.
What Feijóo did want to make clear is that with Vox in government or governing alone, “we maintain our principles and electoral commitments” and “we are consistent with the results of the polls and proportionate in our decisions.”
Meanwhile, the PP continues to negotiate with Vox, even in Extremadura, although there is no agreement for now, said its president. But even Guardiola pointed out that the agreement is still possible, yes, in no case with Vox in its executive, something that seems reasonable to Feijóo because those of Abascal only have five deputies.
In any case, Feijóo believes that the pacts will not punish the PP, and Mazón assures that the agreement is accepted on the street, to the point of daring to say that of the eight current deputies in Congress, the Valencian PP will achieve close to 15 the 23-J. And it will be seen, he assures, how equality between men and women, whose powers will not be in the hands of Vox, will not suffer any setback.
