The morning after the general elections on July 23, newspapers woke up with the headline: “The PP wins the elections but will need to negotiate.” Months later, when he attempted his investiture with the insufficient support of Vox, UPN, and Coalición Canaria, Alberto Núñez Feijóo coined the phrase “I am not president because I don’t want to” after having held informal contacts with Junts that summer. He then called a dozen demonstrations against the amnesty agreed upon by Pedro Sánchez with the Catalan nationalists. Today, three years later, taking advantage of the third anniversary of the July 23 elections and at the close of a political year in which he has hardened his offensive over the corruption cases plaguing the PSOE, Feijóo has taken stock of a legislature he considers dead. “Sánchez deserves nothing less than the greatest electoral punishment because he has been a disgrace for this country. Spain has already changed its mind,” Feijóo declared this Wednesday, in an appearance where he offered himself as the alternative to the Executive’s “systemic” corruption. “It will not be a replacement, it will be a total cleanup,” he promised.
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On the second floor of the Popular Party headquarters, in front of the flags of Spain and the European Union and on a lectern with the motto The Countdown, Feijóo has painted a desolate picture of Spain, both economically and politically. “There is a cause-and-effect relationship between Sánchez coming to power and corruption permeating everything. Mr. X is Mr. Sánchez, he is the corrupting political link,” he asserted before the members of the PP’s steering committee. “It is up to us to ensure that Spain does not go through this again, so that decency returns to La Moncloa. The first thing is for Sánchez to leave, and then we will clean everything up,” he predicted, taking for granted that he will be invested president after the next elections. The leader of the Popular Party also referred to the Plus Ultra case —in which former president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is indicted by judge José Luis Calama of the Audiencia Nacional— pointing to the current head of the Executive: “Without Sánchez’s government, Zapatero would not have been able to commit crimes (…) Without Sánchez’s rescue, Zapatero would not have been able to collect kickbacks.”
Voting with Junts and Vox “on more occasions”
Answering journalists’ questions, the PP leader has fully normalized his relations with Vox and Junts, with whom he intends to continue voting together “on more occasions” in Congress. “Of course, we have agreed and voted in the same way in more than 170 [votes]. And if the legislature continues, I hope to do so on more occasions. Because that means the Government has simply become a blocking minority,” Feijóo pointed out. “The president has been dismissed, not legally, but he has been politically dismissed,” he added, referring to the parliamentary initiative approved in Congress with the votes in favor of the three formations a month ago, which urged Sánchez to resign.
The PP leader began his midday speech by congratulating the men’s national team for winning the World Cup. At the start of the football tournament, Feijóo posted a photo on social media playing football with his son with a message in which he joked about his investiture phrase. “I’m not going to the National Team because I don’t want to,” he quipped. A week after that publication, he traveled to Barcelona for the PP of Catalonia congress. There he called for “turning the page” on the procés and looking towards other issues such as housing or security. Four days later, former president José María Aznar called for a “national majority” in the next general elections. “I cannot have greater harmony than with Mr. Aznar and Mr. Rajoy,” the PP leader responded this Wednesday. “You will not find cracks between Mr. Aznar and Mr. Feijóo. Of course, we need a national majority,” the leader of the Popular Party concluded before assuring that he trusts in future votes coinciding with Junts.
In parallel with the rapprochement with Puigdemont’s party, in recent months Feijóo has normalized his relationship with Vox, even verbalizing for the first time that he will govern in coalition with Santiago Abascal if the polls decide so. “We manage the political reality of our country,” he argued regarding the results of the last four regional elections, which have ended with four shared PP and Vox executives, even in Andalusia. “The relationship with Abascal is correct, fluid, and courteous,” he assured. In this political year, the PP has incorporated “national priority” into four of its regional Executives after hardening its discourse on immigration, and this Wednesday it has even introduced it into a law-ranking norm, that of the regional Budgets of the Valencian Community. “That all the criticism of the agreements with Vox is about ordering access to aid according to roots leaves me very calm,” Feijóo said in this regard.
This Wednesday’s speech also comes after several weeks in which the PP leader has caused controversies such as those generated around the grandchildren’s law or sick leave, which have again been present in his statements today. Regarding the first issue, the Popular Party has already requested that nationalizations be halted and has demanded that the Government revoke the ministerial instruction that develops the Democratic Memory Law of 2022. In this appearance, Feijóo announced that his party is working on a “reform of the Civil Code” related to obtaining a Spanish passport, although without specifying in what sense.
This Thursday, Feijóo will be in Congress, in the extraordinary plenary session where the stability path for next year’s State budgets will be voted on again. “The Government has lost its parliamentary capacity. It began the legislature held back by several minorities, and now not even that. Now it is held back by the interests of a single person, Sánchez,” the PP leader declared.
