The PSOE puts the handbrake on. Days after insisting that Pedro Sánchez is the only possible candidate for the investiture session – and criticizing the Popular Party for pressuring King Felipe VI to appoint Alberto Núñez Feijóo -, the Socialists dropped out of the “competition” yesterday to see who goes first to the Congress of Deputies to present their government program. It is a step to the side, according to Ferraz sources, with the intention that the popular candidate will “stumble” again and “realize the reality that surrounds him”. And, incidentally, to put pressure on the Head of State, who today has a complex decision in his hands.
The PSOE assumed yesterday that, as impossible as Feijóo’s investiture is, the leader of the Popular Party will try. “We will not be the ones to take this idea away from him”, they warned from the socialist ranks. The intention of the conservative candidate is to appear before the monarch with the support of the PP, Vox, UPN and Coalició Canària, despite the fact that with the ultras they are still trying to confuse to try to bring positions between the right. A total of 172 votes – which they believe are tied – would be enough, according to their forecasts, for the King to commission him to form a government. A figure that is insufficient to reach Moncloa.
“Do you want a fake investiture? He himself”, they accepted from Ferraz, where they predict a third “stumble” of the candidate of the Popular Party after the one he had on election night, in which the right-wing did not add up to an absolute majority, and the one he suffered in the constitution de les Corts, when he did not succeed in imposing his candidate to preside over Congress nor did he get a majority in the House’s governing body. “It seems that he needs more information to get out of the shock”, the same sources quipped.
This withdrawal from the “competition” responds to the conviction of the PSOE that Felipe VI will entrust Feijóo with the investiture. That is why they tried to reduce the pressure on the monarch, who yesterday opened the round of consultations, after even Pedro Sánchez went so far as to verbalize that the Popular Party was “pressuring the head of state”. “We, all respect for the King’s decision; institutional naturalness in this matter”, they assure from the socialist leadership.
In the same vein, the leader of Sumar warned that “she will scrupulously respect the will of the King” if she finally entrusts Feijóo with the investiture, a decision she practically took for granted, despite the fact that she does not have parliamentary support. “Mr. Feijóo is more alone than ever: he wants to go to an investiture from which he will come out defeated”, predicted the acting vice-president, who reiterated several times the idea that things should not be “complicated” for the monarch. Her defense of the role of the King was so extreme that in an informal conversation with journalists later she wanted to clarify that she is a republican.
Despite the concession of the PSOE and Sumar, and the determination of the PP, the person in charge of starting the round of contacts was the president of Unió del Poble Navarrès (UPN), Javier Esparza, who certified that his formation will support Feijóo should he be nominated for the investiture.
For Esparza, the ideal scenario would be that of a large coalition between the popular and the socialists. But knowing that his desire is impossible, he pointed out that the leader of the popular, and no one else, will be the candidate who will enjoy the support of the one vote of UPN. Even if returning to the polls depends on his position: “Between a PSOE government with Bildu or new elections, hopefully we will go to a new electoral cycle”, he decided.
The next one who went to Zarzuela was the representative of Coalició Canària (CC). Cristina Valido conveyed to the monarch the support of her organization in Feijóo because she has “the commitment of the PP” to fulfill the two conditions that were conveyed to her: that Vox is not in government and that the popular people take on the Canary agenda. That is, a 55-point document that includes, among others, investments in “Education and research”, as well as “aid for transport and airport management”.
The Canarian position, however, is not as definitive as that of UPN. Not even close. Valido prefers to have a trump card in the face of what may happen and left the door open to support Sánchez as long as the government immediately transfers the “more than 200 million in aid and investments agreed between the two parties for the approval of the General Budgets of the State of 2023” and the PSOE subscribes to the conditions of the Canary Islands agenda.
A hypothetical CC favorable vote for Sánchez would cause the socialist candidate to have enough of Junts’ abstention to be invested instead of demanding an affirmative vote from them as was necessary for the election of Francisca Armengol as to president of the Congress.
In the evening round of consultations, the PNB and Sumar entered the scene. The Basque nationalists, who declined to comment on the content of their meeting with the King, believe that this round has been called “a little hastily” and demand more time to negotiate, since no candidate has guarantees of being elected.
