Far from cowering before the faces of displeasure and rejection in Madrid DF, Coalició Canària insists that Spain of nationalities must be represented in the Congress Bureau, which will be elected tomorrow Thursday in the Carrera de San Jerónimo . In communion with the Basque Nationalist Party, the Canarian nationalists yesterday introduced a new and important nuance to their proposal: the inclusion of the PNB in ??the Table could be accompanied by a stability agreement for the entire legislature, with the formation from a block of 172 deputies.
At the same time, the PSOE announced yesterday that its candidate for the presidency of Congress is Francina Armengol, ex-president of the Balearic Islands, Catalan-speaker, staunch defender of federalist postulates and a person well-regarded by the majority of Catalan political forces. At the most critical moments of the process, Armengol always spoke out in favor of a political solution to the Catalan crisis. Armengol would defend the amnesty from the presidency of the Congress.
Fernando Clavijo Batlle, president of the Government of the Canary Islands and secretary general of the nationalist coalition, yesterday reiterated his commitment to the Basque-Canary axis, in line with what he explained in an interview with La Vanguardia on Sunday. At the end of the religious service for the feast of the Virgin of the Candelabra on the island of Tenerife, Clavijo again proposed that the PNB preside over the Congress or, failing that, occupy one of the vice-presidencies of the Bureau. This last detail is important. “An agreement with the PNB and Coalició Canària could provide stability to a future government. The axis between the PNB and the Canarian Coalition gives the numbers for stability”, insisted the head of the Canary Government. More clearly, the water.
When asked about the recipients of his proposal – Popular Party or PSOE -, Clavijo said that the offer is aimed at “those who want to pick up the gauntlet”. The Popular Party has already said it will not collect it, for fear of losing Vox’s support in tomorrow’s vote. A few days ago the far-right party publicly communicated that its offer of unconditional support to the PP for the configuration of the Bureau in an eventual vote for the investiture of Alberto Núñez Feijóo is conditioned by the fact that “the separatists do not come into the equation”. In the ideology of Vox, the PNB is a separatist group and at some point it has been included in the list of parties that they would like to outlaw. [In these terms Javier Ortega Smith expressed himself in 2019: “When we can, we will outlaw them.”]
The PP, which has been in contact with PNB leaders in recent weeks and has even sent some Morse signals to Waterloo, is tied to Vox. Without the support of the extreme right in tomorrow’s vote, his marker would indicate 137 or 138 votes (counting the Navarro People’s Union) and with this number you cannot ask the King for the task of investiture. Núñez Feijóo is afraid of being sidelined for the next 24 hours.
The other recipient of the Canarian offer – the PSOE – is studying it. The negotiator of the Socialists, Félix Bolaños, Minister of the Presidency in office, had an interview on Monday with Fernando Clavijo, who at the moment expresses, unequivocally, the position of the PNB, whose leaders maintain a grave silence. In the Canary Islands, politics is extroverted and the Virgin of the Candelabra inspires offers of stability. Under the cultural layer of the Society of Jesus, Basque nationalism tends to silence in moments of calculation and turmoil. The PNB will not announce its final position until Thursday morning, competing in secrecy with Junts.
Until last night, the Socialists were opposed to the inclusion of the PNB in ??the Bureau, since one of their objectives is to secure control of the governing body of Congress, in the company of Sumar. If the Socialists reject the offer of the Basque-Canary consortium, all they have to do is close a good deal with Junts, which these days has opted for a mystery film script. Carles Puigdemont wants to make it very clear that he holds the main key. Coalició Canària only has a small key. A nail plated in gold.
If the socialists do not make a pact with each other, neither with the key nor with the nail, they risk losing the vote. If they force the situation and fail, Núñez Feijóo would get a valuable victory and the country would head towards the repeat of the elections.
It is worth reviewing the figures. The Bureau of Congress is composed of nine members, including its president. If the proposal formulated by the PSOE and headed by Francina Armengol wins the vote, its list would get five places: four for the Socialist Party and one for Sumar. The bloc on the right would have four: three for the PP and one for Vox. If the PSOE gives up a place and gives the PNB entry to the Table, even if they do not have the presidency, the Basque nationalists (allied with the Canarian Coalition) become the faithful of the balance. The most delicate decisions of the Congress Bureau would be in their hands and the Basque-Canary consortium would become a key part of the legislature.
Socialists do not want to lose control of political time in Parliament. They chose Francina Armengol, a strong defender of a political solution to the Catalan dispute, to attract Junts and pacify ERC. Will this Mediterranean figurehead be enough?
Together and the PNB will talk on Thursday morning.
