Catalonia dug the ditch that prevented Alberto Núñez Feijóo from being president of the government on 23-J. The results of the PSC, obtaining 19 seats, seven more than in 2019, were decisive in tipping the balance in favor of Pedro Sánchez. Then the convoluted parliamentary arithmetic would lead the socialists to Moncloa. Almost a year later, Feijóo is playing again in Catalonia and hence the reservations when choosing a candidate who adjusts to the intense struggle that will take place on 12-M and that, without a doubt, will have repercussions at the national level.
In the end Feijóo has opted for the continuation option of Alejandro Fernández, despite the fact that the president of the popular Catalans had spoken out in strong words against the PP’s approach to Junts to negotiate a possible investiture. Given the confirmation of the conversations with the post-convergents, Fernández urged the leader of his party to act “without tutelages”, nor “hesitations” and not grant “more perks to the insatiable nationalist bourgeoisie that has everything and the constitutionalists nothing. They want to sell us as currency. We have the right to have a tantrum and it will be a big one. “We are not going to be silent.” In fact, he did not remain silent and in Genoa they saw these statements as disloyalty and an affront towards Feijóo.
In Catalonia the election of the head of the list has been postponed for years in the PP. Génova should have already made a decision about Fernández’s future during the time of Pablo Casado and Teodoro García-Egea, who never maintained a good relationship with the Catalan leader. When Feijóo became president of the party, the Catalan regional congress was also delayed until the early elections ended up precipitating everything.
Confirming Fernández has taken time and has not been exempt from pressures within the party that did not consider him to be the best candidate. In the shortlist and with options were always the City Council councilor Daniel Sirera and the MEP Dolors Montserrat, the preferred one for some positions in the party.
With the election of Fernández, Feijóo is betting on the toughest theses against the independence movement. The “the worse the better” can also work in the popular ranks that distance themselves from a possible understanding with Junts. Feijóo should consider that to reach Moncloa you also have to win in Catalonia and offer a project for those Catalans who do not feel concerned by the independence movement, but also not with the harshest theses of political polarization.
