José Miguel Blanco I
Madrid (EFE).- A perfect blockade. This is how the result of the general elections of this July 23 could be summed up, which has left most of the polls in a very bad place and which has given Pedro Sánchez arguments for a renewed edition of his Manual of Resistance.
Sánchez has lost, but the risky move that he decided the day after the electoral crash of May 28 has come out and with which he ran the risk that all the eyes of the PSOE would turn against him, accusing him of rushing forward by advancing the elections.
That was one of the options, and the other, the one that is now going to be lavished on his ranks, was to be considered a strategist who knows how to read each of the situations and makes the right decision.
With the electoral triumph of less than two months ago as the main argument, the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, appeared at these elections with a tailwind, championing the need to end “sanchismo” and aspiring to a sufficient majority to prevent or reduce the weight of Vox in his future Government.
a bitter victory
And Feijóo has won, but he has achieved a bitter victory that not even adding up with Vox and with some other formation of the popular orbit guarantees him the necessary majority to be invested.
Opposite, neither does Sánchez achieve that his seats, together with those of Sumar and those of the rest of the partners that he has had throughout the previous legislature, give the long-awaited figure of 176 seats.
Pending the completion of the scrutiny, Feijóo could try to add, negotiations through and certainly not easy, 171 (136 from the PP, 33 from Vox, 1 from UPN and 1 from the Canary Islands Coalition), and Sánchez 172 (122 from the PSOE, 31 from Sumar, 7 from ERC, 6 from EH Bildu, 5 from PNV and 1 from BNG).
In total, 343 seats. 7 are missing, those of Junts, a political force that has in its hands to become an arbitrator for the inauguration of the President of the Government or to slide hopelessly into an electoral repetition with the Christmas dates on the horizon.
The first reaction since this match to the new situation that has rained down on him this Sunday invites us to think about that new appointment with the polls.
It has been his head of list to Congress, Miriam Nogueras, who has assured that they will not make Sánchez president of the Government “in exchange for nothing”, something that should be interpreted as a refusal that they could opt for that favorable vote if there were a hypothetical pardon for their leader, Carles Puigdemont.
Puigdemont himself has abounded in the same argument: “We owe nothing to anyone.”
This being the case, some unexpected turn would have to take place in the coming weeks for the long shadow of electoral repetition to dissipate.
investiture vote
But for that, the deadlines would have to start running, something that will only happen when there is an investiture vote, and the question is who would submit to that session in Congress knowing in advance that they will not have a sufficient majority.
Feijóo has claimed his right to do so, recalling that his party has been the most voted for and announcing that he is going to start a dialogue with other formations so that the majority will of the Spaniards is fulfilled and no one, with an explicit call to the PSOE, falls into the temptation of blocking Spain again.
That is to say, an appeal to the Socialists so that, with one abstention, they allow their investiture.
But an exultant Sánchez over his very sweet defeat has proclaimed the failure of the “regression bloc” and has guaranteed that Spain will continue advancing assuming that he could continue at the controls. In other words, the abstention to invest Feijóo can be ruled out.
Given these positions, the king must decide after the round of contacts with the spokespersons of the parties that have achieved representation in Congress, who he proposes as a candidate for the investiture.
Vox, third
Faced with the joy that overflowed in Ferraz, the faces in Vox denoted that their expectations have not been met and that the ability to influence the Government will, at least, have to wait.
But Santiago Abascal has managed to ensure that his party remains the third political force ahead of Sumar, whose leader, Yolanda Díaz, has not surpassed the results of Podemos, but took the progressive bloc’s victory for granted.
The comeback of that block that Sánchez predicted has been left halfway, but it has been enough to take a breath and wait for events. Maybe a wait of many months