Sánchez hopes to solve the unknown of governability without repeating the elections

“Surely this democracy will find the formula for governability”, Pedro Sánchez communicated to the PSOE federal executive, gathered yesterday in Ferraz after the hangover from the party with which the socialists celebrated, until dawn, the results of the 23-J.

With these words the President of the Government, already in office, wanted to rule out the scenario of a blockade of the parties, due to the demonic parliamentary arithmetic resulting from the ballot boxes, which forces a repeat of the general elections.

The leader of the PSOE took for granted that he himself will once again opt for the investiture as president.

But no rush, time at a time. In the PSOE, for the moment, they recommend that all the parties start to analyze and compare their own electoral results, without precipitation. The ballot boxes on 23-J, they say, sent messages to all political formations, which now “must rest”.

First, the Popular Party. In Ferraz they do not anticipate, at least for now, a meeting between Pedro Sánchez and Alberto Núñez Feijóo. Maybe in September, they say, depending on how events unfold.

Although it is clear that some socialist leaders are betting that Feijóo, and the entire PP, will be left to stew in their sauce. Socialists warn that there is an intense “internal noise” in the conservative formation. “We have to see if Feijóo gets to the investiture”, they point out. And they remember that, no matter how hard he tries, the leader of the PP already has in advance the negatives that would make his investiture impossible.

In the PSOE, however, they warn that if Feijóo chooses to go to the investiture, he will have to do it “with the arm of the ultra-right” of Vox. “He will know”, they conclude. “We are not in a hurry”, they emphasize, with reference to when Sánchez will ask for his turn. No precipitation.

Some socialist leaders, in any case, emphasize the “humiliation” that in their opinion the leader of the PP suffered the day before, on the balcony of Génova, when supporters interrupted him to applaud Isabel Díaz Ayuso. And they suggest that Feijóo could follow in the footsteps of his predecessor, Pablo Casado, who was defenestered by his own party when he faced Ayuso. “We will leave it to the PP to clarify”, they point out.

The PSOE also highlighted the electoral push that the PSC of Salvador Illa once again demonstrated at the polls on Sunday. “The policy of the President of the Government in Catalonia, which has not had the support of the PP, means that a constitutionalist party has more votes and more seats than all of independence together”, say the management of Ferraz.

This is one of the lessons of the 23-J polls, which the socialists urge Junts per Catalunya to analyze carefully. They remember, to begin with, that this party still has “two souls”. And in any case, they urge the formation of Carles Puigdemont to do “a reflection” on the electoral result in Catalonia.

“We are the first force in Catalonia and the Basque Country, and that is indeed integrating Spain”, they say to the PSOE.

Sánchez will not rush, nor will he take false steps. “No haste or rush”, point out socialist sources. Time to time, everything will come. “Let the people rest and enjoy the holidays”, said the leader of the PSOE yesterday. “The country must rest”, after months of high political tension.

In fact, after the instructions he gave them, they all left the executive meeting with one priority: “Now, vacations”, sums up a minister. “To rest”, corroborates another leader, after the effort of two almost consecutive electoral campaigns, crowned with the good word of having blocked the way to a PP and Vox government that, before arriving at the appointment with the ballot boxes, already seemed to be distributing positions and ministries.

“They always tried to pass us off as dead, but we are very much alive”, celebrates another socialist leader. It is not the first time that Sánchez has been given up for dead, nor the first time that the PSOE leader has staged a resurrection against all odds. The Socialists highlight having won on the 23rd one million more votes than in the last general election of 2019.

And this electoral growth was the first that Sánchez highlighted yesterday in front of his people, who received him with great applause and heartfelt hugs. “Thank you, thank you and thank you”, he said to the almost 11 million Spaniards who “voted progress” for having chosen the PSOE and Sumar ballots, to stop the PP and Vox from entering the government.

“This country has said no to involution and retrogression”, celebrated Sánchez. “And it is a reference for Europe and the world”, he said. The echoes of the slogan chanted by supporters at the gates of Ferraz the previous night still echoed: “They won’t pass!”.

Sánchez congratulated the electoral growth of the PSOE, in seats, in votes and in percentage. “It is not that we have reached 30%, but we have reached 32%”, he pointed out. The vote from abroad still has to be scrutinized, and despite the fact that yesterday they assumed that it would not change anything in the final result, the day before they were still confident that there would be two seats left for the PP, even if the PSOE did not win them.

But the socialist leader asked for a break. He recalled that the new Courts will not be established until August 17. Step by step. Socialist leaders point out that, to begin with, they will “most likely” be able to retain the presidency of Congress, which is now held by Meritxell Batet.

And for the PSOE, the absolute majority achieved by the PP in the Senate also remains significant: “It will force the processing of the laws, which will have to return to Congress, and Sánchez will have to appear more often. But nothing more”, they conclude.