“Arimadas or Vox are not setting our agenda.” So it is ruled out in the PP that its leader, Alberto Núñez Feijo, intends to lead a motion of no confidence with the reform of the crime of sedition, as a justification that both Vox and Ciudadanos have demanded of him. They don’t believe it’s a good idea and even think that this parliamentary instrument to try to expel Pedro Sánchez from Moncloa is too “ceremonial” to be used as a means of “delaying” changes to the Criminal Code. The opposition leader also rules out joining the mobilization announced by Santiago Abascal.
Feijo does not want to reissue what is known as the Colon photo, the iconic February 2019 image in which Pablo Casado first posed with then-leader of Ciudadanos Albert Rivera and Vox’s Santiago Abascal. At that time, the ultra-rights had no parliamentary representation except in Andalusia. In the April elections of the same year, Casado scored a big blow (66 MPs), Rivera defeated “Sorpasso” (57) and Vox won with 24.
On that February 10, the unity of action of the three right-wing parties – known to some sectors of the left as the “Trifachito” – first against the PSOE government and later in coalition with Unidas Podemos. A framework that Feijo has been trying to break away from since the beginning of his tenure at the helm of the PP last April. So he recalled this Monday in a speech before the national executive committee of his party, where he attacked Sánchez for the reform of the reform and possible waste, but also called for “moderation”, “calm” and “centrality”. “.
After exploring the rift between the secretary-general and socialist barons opposed to modifying the penal code, Fayó told his leadership, including regional leaders, that “Mr Sánchez’s PSOE is no longer committed to some constitutional values. And not true to himself”, to immediately confront him with the PP: “We will not abandon these principles, we will continue to defend them with all those who want to follow us with calmness, moderation and centrality, steadfastly”.
The Galician leader later insisted: “I said that in Seville [donde se celebró el congreso que lo encumbró como presidente del PP] And I’m more confident than ever. We are not here to insult Sánchez, to fight radicalism with more radicalism, to give Spain more histrionics and wit. We came to win. I am more determined than the first Sevilla because we have one cause almost every day. And I believe we can do that, today more than ever. ”
Feijoo’s words, in front of Isabel Díaz Ayuso, were not only aimed at the usual political use of the Madrid president, with whom he has a difficult relationship due to state projection, as they admit in the headquarters of Calle de Génova in Madrid. According to PP leadership sources, they addressed “the entire party”. This indicates what Sanchez’s opposition should be like. An idea that you should insist on regularly.
This Monday he did so after Santiago Abascal’s first press conference in months, and last Friday Ciudadanos president Ines Arimadas floated the idea of a motion of no confidence against Sánchez. Double pressure for Feijo.
First it was Arimadas, whose party does not have enough seats for a no-confidence vote. The Ciudadanos leader challenged the PP last Friday ahead of the reform, which he effectively described as “very serious” and “unprecedented” because it was “a direct attack on the system of democratic guarantees in our country by the Spanish government”. And it is also the “biggest attack on Spanish democracy” perpetrated by a “dishonest” prime minister.
And this Monday the leader of Vox appeared in a press conference for the first time in months and in front of only a few journalists after Vox maintains a veto on many media outlets, including elDiario.es. Abascal joined the proposal of Arimadas and also threw down the gauntlet to the PP leader. “We will support any initiative that involves the eviction of Pedro Sánchez from Moncloa Palace, but it serves to call early elections immediately,” the far-right leader solemnly declared as a condition. Abascal later asked the PP to “take its responsibility”. as the main opposition party and that they are looking for a consensus candidate – without a veto on the name of Feijoo himself.
But if the new conservative leader does not take the initiative, Vox does not rule out repeating the same thing, as he did in October 2020. In this case, Abascal assumed the role of Sánchez’s alternative candidate, but failed to receive the support of other parliamentary parties. group. Citizens voted against it and so did PP. Casado, then leader of the PP, started with unexpected harshness against Abascal, to the point of personal disqualification.
“It’s not that we’re brave that we don’t dare, but that we don’t want to be like you,” he told her. “You don’t fight for ideas, you only have the idea of dragging the Spaniards into the fight”, or “PP does not feed fury, noise and fractures like you do. We only want to unite the Spaniards”. Some of the rebukes that Casado addressed to Abascal during his speech. After this debate, Abaskeli announced that he was severing political relations with the PP leader.
This Monday, with his appearance, Abascal painted a worse picture than before to justify the need to oust Sánchez de la Moncloa and go to the polls. As he said, “Pedophiles will be promoted” from the Ministry of Equality, “Communism is promoted with the money of all Spaniards”, and with the reform of the crime of sedition, Sánchez “is only seeking amnesty for some dangerous criminals who have committed the most heinous crimes. that a public representative can commit: a crime against democracy, the constitution and the unity of the nation”.
“This government is destroying the economy and the well-being of the Spanish people, it is suffocating companies and families with taxes and condemning workers to unemployment and uncertainty,” he added. “Sánchez has condemned our society with economic collapse, the encirclement and destruction of families,” the far-right leader summed up.
But Feijóo has no intention, at least discursively, of following the path outlined by Vox and Ciudadanos. Unlike what happened with Casado, the Galician leader is less permeable to pressure from Abascal and Arimadas. Or try pretending.
What Feijóo is getting at is that Ayuso’s problems with Madrid’s public health system don’t distract from the media’s focus on rebel reform. That is why this Monday the leader of the PP did not mention a single action on Sunday, nor the problems in all the autonomous communities with health policy. During the executive committee session, only Ana Beltrán, the outgoing president of the party in Navarre and the last of the Casado faithful, and Alberto Galliana, newly elected in La Rioja, mentioned what happened. “This was not an issue to be discussed,” the management said.
Feijo devoted almost his entire speech to the reform of the rebellion and the Melilla tragedy of last June, for which they demanded an urgent appearance in the plenary session of Pedro Sánchez. The PP president believes that this is the possibility of ousting some of the socialist barons (Castilla-La Mancha, Aragon and the Community of Valencia are their main targets) in next year’s May elections, paving the way for general elections. At the end of 2023.
In Genoa, they defend the strategy of Feijoo, in which “the voters of Ayuso are seven million and Feijoo is bigger”, in response to the famous “Madrid is Spain”, said the president of the region, and as a justification for a more moderate profile, which should be liked not only. By those who are confident in the community, which has been very important for years, but also in places where the majority voted for the PSOE or other progressive options.
This, they say, is the only way to get enough of a majority to rule alone, with only occasional support from allies. Therefore, the PP does not want to confirm the strategy of Vox or Ciudadanos. And if anyone wasn’t convinced, Feijo ended his speech on Monday by confirming that he believes this is the right way: “I have no doubt, I have no doubt. Spain needs us and will call us to be at the height that it deserves.”
Source: El Diario
