The PP fears that Buxadé's power in Vox will destabilize its territorial alliances

“In Vox, the Falangist and populist sector has triumphed. And that's always bad.”. PP leaders exhibit in private what they are silent in public about the short and medium-term consequences of the departure of Iván Espinosa from the Monteros de Vox, after the hard wing of the party organically imposed the liberal faction headed by the former parliamentary spokesman, relegated in the last months. In the popular direction, they already looked with suspicion at the weight that the current number two of Santiago Abascal had gained in the formation located to his right and now they fear that the imposition of that current will vitiate not only the relationship with Alberto Núñez Feijóo, but also the governance agreements that both forces share in several autonomies and dozens of large municipalities.

Cuca Gamarra avoided assessing this Wednesday the impact that the incipient crisis in Vox could have on the right-wing block, where a kind of internal rebellion begins to appear due to the “surrender”, in the eyes of the popular, of the “pragmatic” Abascal to Buxadé. In private, however, the sources consulted point out that the resignation of Espinosa de los Monteros deprives them of an interlocutor in Vox “with whom they can talk”, and there is even concern that it could destabilize the territorial pacts that have already been closed in autonomous regions. such as Extremadura, the Valencian Community or Aragon.

PP and Vox have closed separate coalition pacts in these regions, but popular officials from various territories warn that “the entire legislature” still remains. They also glimpse an “ideological turn” that can “radicalize” some discourses, for example in relation to immigration or gender violence. This last matter forced Genoa to strike a balance during the negotiation of the regional executives, in which it accepted the Vox clauses related to intra-family violence, but maintained its commitments to sexist violence..

Abascal's party governs in four autonomies after forcing Feijóo to cede councils in exchange for his votes. The popular leader hit a wall when he tried, unsuccessfully, to limit the agreements to a programmatic roadmap. A few weeks ago, the popular leadership complained about the intrusion of the Vox leadership in Madrid in territorial agreements and claimed to find “better predisposition” in its regional representatives than in the Bambú headquarters. “The Buxadé current only seeks to destroy the PP,” they complained.

What Genoa will not compromise with is the ordeal that Vox has launched in the Region of Murcia. In Feijóo's party they believed that what happened in this territory would determine “which faction prevails” in Abascal's party: if the practice or the radical. The resignation of Iván Espinosa de los Monteros has cleared up all doubts in the ranks of the popular, and they see it as difficult to solve the equation in this territory without the call for elections. In the PP, they insist that the case of Fernando López Miras is “different” from that of the rest of the autonomies, since the popular baron was only two seats away from the absolute and only needs the abstention of Vox. In Abascal's environment they reiterate their rejection: either councils or polls.

“Abascal was a member of the PP, he has always had a greater party culture. He knows what can and cannot be done”, they analyze among the popular, who lament the weight that the leader has given to the most “ultra” sectors, with a hermetic nucleus made up of Jorge Buxadé, Ignacio Hoces and Enrique Cabanas. They also highlight the “excellent relationship” of their spokespersons with Espinosa de los Monteros, and point out that his departure and that of other positions from the liberal wing such as Víctor Sánchez del Real or Rubén Manso from the lists could also make their relationship more difficult in the Congress.

Last Sunday, Vox formally promised that it would vote in favor of the possible investiture of Feijóo without asking for anything in return, with the aim of not being an “obstacle” when putting together an alternative to the majority of Sánchez.. But there is another negotiation in sight in which the PP can sweat to get the votes of its partners. Genoa aspires to control the presidency of Congress to stone a possible legislature of the left, and will formalize these days the contacts with the parliamentary forces to tie up the support. As published by El Confidencial, Vox limits Feijóo's free support to the investiture, and warns that any deal with the PP in this regard involves maintaining its representation quota in the parliamentary body. With Espinosa out, the popular will have to deal with a parliamentary group controlled by the new counterweights of Vox.

All in all, in the PP they believe that “in the medium term” the internal crisis of Vox can benefit them, and they reinforce the idea of a possible transfer of votes from Abascal's party to his bag in the event of an electoral repetition. The ultra-conservative party already left 19 seats in the general elections on July 23, and in Genoa they believe that this fall will increase if neither Sánchez nor Feijóo manage to undo the blockade and the country goes to the polls again. However, some voices encourage the leadership of the PP to keep a cool mind in the face of this assumption. First, because it is possible that the Vox voter who is disenchanted with Abascal's turn will go to abstention; and second, because an excessive collapse of Vox makes impossible, again, the sum in the block on the right.