A year can go by very quickly or take forever, or both. Surely Alberto Núñez Feijóo is one of the latter. Going from being president of the Xunta, a position he had held for 13 years, to leading the opposition is hard, and surely the popular leader has felt it that way. Feijóo celebrates one year at the head of the PP today and the polls conclude that he has suffered wear and tear. At least that’s what the CIS says, since in April 2022, in the first barometer in which they asked about Feijóo, the Spaniards gave him a grade of 5.20, compared to a 4.65 with which they rated Pedro Sánchez . In the last barometer, that of March, the valuation of the leader of the PP drops to 4.28, with a greater drop than that experienced by the Prime Minister, who surpasses him by obtaining a note of 4.41.
A waste in which the head of the Executive has been used, and a lot, who in the first debate that both held in the Senate, on September 6, used a very important part of his time to disqualify the opposition leader, coining the catchphrase of “insolvency or bad faith”, with which to counter what was supposed to be the main asset of the new leader of the PP, management. At that time, even the CIS placed Feijóo above Sánchez, in valuation: 4.48 compared to 4.37.
Despite this wear and tear, the president of the PP makes a moderately positive balance. From Genoa, three positive points stand out in Feijóo’s credit: a demographic rebound, a certain ideological comeback and organic stability.
From the demographic point of view, they point out in the match, no one can deny that when Feijóo arrived in Genoa he was in a similar situation to that of Vox, due to the internal crisis experienced with Pablo Casado. A year later, the PP triples Abascal’s party in number of seats in the polls. In the 2019 elections, the popular ones were 30 seats behind the PSOE and now the polls, except for the CIS, give them 40 more than the socialists. “A remarkable comeback”, underline sources from Genoa, who recall that Feijóo has always won the first time, and if the polls are met, he will do it again. In addition, he “has consolidated the party as an alternative.”
The ideological renewal is valued by the leadership of the PP, because it allows it to win votes from the right and from the left, at the same time, from the PSOE and Vox, “something not easy”, they underline, once it has also added the vote for Albert Rivera. He has achieved it, they highlight, “thanks to the moderation” that defines Feijóo, a fact that has become clear when to attack him, they say, they have had to resort “to the intervention of a televangelist.”
And on the organic issue, Feijóo has pacified the party, they emphasize. “The problem in Madrid is solved, and there are no tensions,” insist the sources, who consider that after the renewal of the territorial leaderships the party is “cohesive and united.” This allowed Juanma Moreno to obtain an absolute majority in June, when Feijóo faced the first elections as leader of the PP, in Andalusia, “associating the PP with a winning brand.” Some results that, although with a smaller margin, are expected to be repeated on 28-M.
“And there is nothing in Feijóo’s debit?” For that, they say in the PP, “the government is here, turned into opposition to the opposition, we are not going to say it ourselves.” The balance that would be made from Moncloa would differ a lot, but above all they would highlight at least one must: the fact that Feijóo, like Casado, has prevented the renewal of the General Council of the Judiciary, when it was almost agreed upon. Or the lack of support for some government reforms. The last one, on Thursday, that of pensions. What will have to be seen is whether all this translates into votes or not.
