Felipe VI yesterday proposed the leader of the Popular Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, as a candidate for the presidency of the Spanish Government, in accordance with article 99 of the Constitution, which grants the head of state the power to appoint a candidate for president, once the representatives of the political forces present in the Congress of Deputies have been heard. The decision was not easy and has been adopted in accordance with the customary rule.
The press release from the House of the King informs that the designation of the Popular Party candidate obeys “tradition”: since the entry into force of the Constitution (1978), in all legislatures except one, the first candidate for the investiture he has been the leader of the party with the most seats. The exception took place in January 2016, when Mariano Rajoy declined the King’s commission, in order to gain time, and the first investiture debate of the XI legislature had as candidate Pedro Sánchez, who lost. tradition “In the consultation procedure, it has not been established, today, the existence of a sufficient majority for the investiture which, in its case, would cause this custom to decline”, the statement says. The note from the House of the King recalls that the head of state will process successive proposals if the current candidate does not obtain the investiture.
Núñez Feijóo currently has 172 secure votes (Partit Popular, Unió del Poble Navarrès, Vox and Coalició Canària) and aspires to the abstention of the Basque Nationalist Party and Junts per Catalunya (you read that right). The popular leader had a telephone conversation with Santiago Abascal yesterday, who demanded guarantees of respect from the popular. There was peace, it seems. momentary peace What does this mean? Keep in force all the pacts signed between the two formations in the town halls and the autonomous communities. And then there is the matter of Murcia. Soon we will see if Vox enters the regional government of Murcia or if elections are repeated in this autonomous community.
The truce between Vox and the PP – the full force of the understanding between the extreme right and the Spanish right affiliated with the European Popular Party – makes it impossible for the Basque Nationalist Party to abstain, eight or nine months before the elections are held in Basque Parliament, with EH Bildu disputing first place to the people of Sabin Etxea.
Through its experienced spokesman in Madrid, Aitor Esteban, the PNB has again insisted that it cannot give the green light to Núñez Feijóo because of this historic commitment of the popular people to the extreme right. Each time they take the floor, Basque nationalists offer another nuance to their position. Yesterday Esteban confirmed that the PNB has reconciled with Junts, as La Vanguardia reported on Monday. Relations between Sabin Etxea and Carles Puigdemont were damaged after the events of October 2017. Aitor Esteban explained yesterday that the PNB has contributed these days to the dialogue between the PSOE and Junts.
PP sources say that they also aspire to the abstention of the group led by Puigdemont. It’s a good tactic to create atmosphere. Generate the feeling that everything will be possible when Núñez Feijóo goes up to the podium of the Congress, on the date set by the Bureau of the Congress. Genoa has been sending Morse code to Waterloo these weeks. Among the most pragmatic sectors of Junts, the negotiation with the PP would not represent any inconvenience, for sure. But the studies on the alteration of spacetime are not advanced enough to generate a wormhole, like the one in the movie Interestellar, which directly communicates Prada de Conflent (August 2023) with the hotel lounges Majestic (April 1996).
Feijóo offers a short hypothesis. Sánchez works with a still unfinished hypothesis. The leader of the Popular Party does not have enough numbers, unless we are surprised by astrophysics. The socialist leader promises horizons with the cake still in the oven.
The day before yesterday, the PSOE decided to facilitate the decision of the Head of State, announcing that it does not consider the appointment of Feijóo to be a setback. “Whatever the King decides will seem good to us”, said socialist sources. With this declaration they gained political centrality and time. Sánchez needs time to conclude a very complex negotiation with Junts and Esquerra Republicana, but also with PNB and Bildu. And with the BNG. Without forgetting Sumar, who will not want to be a guest of stone, since the five deputies of Podemos (elected on Sumar’s lists) are beginning to show signs of uneasiness due to Yolanda Díaz’s great friendliness with Sánchez.
Why does Feijóo show so much interest in a parliamentary vote that he will surely lose? He wants to fix the position of the winner of the elections in the face of an eventual repetition, or a new period of opposition. He wants to keep the leadership of the PP. He wants to sow for the future: that’s why he insists on celebrating the PNB. After the Basque elections (perhaps April 2024) and after the European elections (June 2024) there may be a new landscape. And he wants to subject Vox to a prolonged stress session. Feijóo and his team believe they can win later, if they hold out. In Spain it is always about resisting.
