Maria Lopez |
Madrid, Mar 31 (EFE).- This Sunday, April 2, Alberto Núñez Feijóo celebrates one year as leader of the PP, convinced that he will defeat Pedro Sánchez and manage to govern in Spain by appealing to the useful vote on the right and to the voters of center, after having joined his formation.
When he took the reins, his party was broken by the open war between his predecessor, Pablo Casado, and the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso.
Twelve months later, various accents coexist in the PP, but internal balance has returned; At least for the moment.
Feijóo is also the leader in the polls, which with few exceptions -the CIS- anticipate that PP and Vox will add a majority.
In Genoa they have commissioned their own polls and management sources indicate that they are already in 34% of the votes, 143 seats.
The goal is to reach 150 and govern alone, without having to include Santiago Abascal in the Council of Ministers.
Lead from the Senate
Feijóo arrives at this position after a year of first times, in which he has had to lead his party from a secondary position, the Senate, has inaugurated a new relationship with Vox and has transferred to the Government multiple proposals that have not reached any agreement .
The first Management Committee, with a strong weight of Galicians and Andalusians; the first audience with the king as leader of the opposition; the first meeting in Moncloa as an opponent of Sánchez; the first parliamentary face to face; the first summits of the European PP.
The first government coalition with Vox, in Castilla y León, materialized, yes, before he officially assumed command and when Casado was already out of the game.
He has also starred in farewells, from Galicia and from his position as president of the Xunta, which he held for thirteen years.
His first months as leader were invested by Feijóo in making proposals to the Government, especially in the economy and taxation, and in closing internal chapters such as the control of the PP in Madrid, which was left in the hands of Ayuso on May 20.
In June the absolute majority of Juanma Moreno in Andalusia breathed euphoria in Génova street, headquarters of the popular.
The renewal of the CGPJ
After the summer came the last failed attempt to renew the General Council of the Judiciary. The possible pact generated reluctance in barons like Ayuso and Feijóo broke the negotiation when it was published that the Government planned to suppress the crime of sedition, as it finally happened.
During this time, Feijóo has inaugurated a new era in relations with Vox, broken after Pablo Casado’s no to the first motion of no confidence in this party and his personal criticism of Abascal. Both leaders met in September and have been in contact ever since, paving the way for future deals.
This non-aggression agreement has survived Vox’s second motion of no confidence with the independent candidate Ramón Tamames. The abstention of the PP and Feijóo’s decision to disassociate himself from the debate have been seen as a success in his party, despite the criticism raised on the left.
The proximity of the polls has led both forces to underline their differences in recent days, without Ayuso’s break with Vox having spread to the entire electoral map.
Despite the fact that the possibility of changing the governments of Castilla-La Mancha or the Valencian Community depends on the sum with Vox, the PP emphasizes that Feijóo’s is a project “without labels” for the “moderate majority”.
In his trip to the center and in his fight for the disappointed socialist electorate, Feijóo has amended the position of the PP on abortion, by supporting that it be freely practiced within the terms established by law, and his leadership is also favorable to regulating pregnancy surrogate. He takes these steps even though he is aware that both elements generate internal response.
Hits and misses
As an achievement of his first year in Genoa, there is one in an internal key: to unite the two souls of the PP. After years of clashing, the former presidents José María Aznar and Mariano Rajoy staged a reconciliation sharing an act in Valencia and are now turning to the campaign on May 28.
Among his musts, errors such as confusing the interest rate with the risk premium, linking Islam with Islamic terrorism -he later corrected- or, according to his adversaries, criticizing the government’s relationship with Latin American “autocrats” coinciding with the summit in which the king participated, although Feijóo maintains that he was misinterpreted.
The PSOE points out each mistake asking if it is “insolvency or bad faith” and in private the popular ones admit that being wrong is the risk that the great media exposure of their leader entails.
Because Feijóo has put on the opposition suit thirteen years later and, as they admit in the party, the new lace is not easy. The leader maintains the hard core that surrounded him in Galicia, from which the main decisions emanate.
With these wickers, he faces the litmus test of the regional and local elections on May 28. With many balls in the post, this appointment is the prelude in which the PP and Feijóo play their future in the general elections, where the popular do not lose sight of Sánchez’s endurance among his voters.