What everyone expected has happened. Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the candidate designated by the King for the investiture, has not managed to gain confidence in the Congress. His aspiration to head the Government has crashed against the wall built by the PSOE with the conglomerate of parties that make up Add plus the independentistas, nationalists and nationalists. His proposal has received 172 votes in favor – the Junts deputy Eduard Pujol has made a mistake and has voted yes but the president Francina Armengol, despite the protests, has decided to subtract it from the count in favor and has considered it null – compared to 177 in against, in a definitive scrutiny for which he needed to collect more yeses than noes.
The time of the alternative candidate, Pedro Sánchez, begins now, who before trying must be appointed by the King, something that Felipe VI is presumed to do next week after contacting the parties that sit in the Chamber. Sánchez's claim will in any case involve achieving the support of the Catalan secessionists who are already demanding an amnesty law and a self-determination referendum in exchange for their votes.
Feijóo recalled, before the Chamber's rejection was confirmed, his proposal in favor of leading a nation in which equality among Spaniards prevails.. In short, he has tried to show that either the pro-independence parties in this House have lied or the socialist leader has lied.. He has suggested that he leans toward the second option.
“Amnesty, yes or no. Referendum, yes or no. “I say no. And you, Mr. Sánchez,” the popular man fired, calling on the socialist to go up to the podium and “speak bluntly,” “with the courage to tell Spain what it will have to endure if he becomes president of the Government again.”. “Be brave and speak up so that Spain knows what you think.”. Now it's time to know if you want to be president of the Government at the expense of the dignity and equality of the Spanish people,” he concluded.
Several people rebuke Pedro Sánchez upon his arrival at Congress. EFE
Feijóo has asked the PSOE to “not turn away from its principles and from the Spanish Transition”. For him, appealing to conscience is “appealing to personal and political integrity”. And he stressed: “We will not accept that they ask us later for what you have not wanted to give to the party with the most votes.”. In this way, the leader of the PP settled the debate on whether or not the Popular Party should abstain from the attempted investiture of Pedro Sánchez.
The leader of the PP has accused the socialists of having deceived the Spanish by presenting themselves in the elections with some commitments in relation to the independence challenge, which they are now preparing to not respect.. And he concluded with a message to the citizens showing himself convinced of having offered a proposal willing to defend the promised values.. Furthermore, he has assumed that “sooner rather than later” he will lead a Government “for all Spaniards.”
“It was worth it”
After the vote, Feijóo expressed satisfaction with the development of the debate, despite not having had enough votes: “It was worth it,” he told the press in the halls of Congress.
Already leaving the vicinity of the Lower House to greet some people gathered, he insisted that he made a very positive assessment and that he would do it again.
Pedro Sánchez congratulates Óscar Puente after his intervention. Puente accuses Feijóo of “using the Crown”
Pedro Sánchez has fled from the Feijóo location and has once again refused to go to the rostrum, allowing the deputy Óscar Puente to once again give voice to the PSOE. Sánchez's replacement has reproached the PP leader for having “used the Crown” not to try to be sworn in as president but “to strengthen himself before his own people.”. For the socialist deputy everything has been a “farce” in which the PP has even tried to involve the Presidency of the Government. “There is no symbol or institution of democracy that you have not been willing to manipulate,” he stated before assuming that the PSOE will govern again with the support of the independence movement.
The leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal, has reiterated his support for Feijóo and has accused Sánchez of trying to govern “with criminals”. Later, Sumar's spokesperson, Marta Lois, reproached the PP leader for his “arrogance and arrogance” and, like Puente, called the attempted investiture of the popular party a “farce.”. Lois has called Feijóo a “liar” and she has also insisted that there will be a “progressive Government as the country deserves.”
Teresa Jordá, from ERC, has preferred to attack the King for having proposed the popular leader as a candidate for the investiture. She has gone back to October 1, 2017 and has assured that her party will say “no” to anyone who tries to stop the aspirations of the Catalans.. Jordá has taken advantage of his intervention to refer to the Spanish monarchy as “a family of thieves and corrupt people”. She has assumed that the amnesty has already been agreed and has assured that now what we have to do is pave the way for the referendum.. The president of the Chamber, Francina Armengol, has decided to remove the insults made against State institutions from the minutes of the session.
Miriam Nogueras, spokesperson for Junts, in her turn to speak. EFE
The representative of Junts, Miriam Nogueras, has stated that Feijóo does not have any project for Catalonia and has stressed that the thesis he maintains that “voting divides only comes from the extreme right”. Bildu, for its part, has demanded a “sanitary cordon” to remove the extreme right and has insisted that the PP and Vox “are united”. “Today,” concluded his representative, Oskar Matute, “we put the cordon sanitaire on you.”
The PNV spokesperson, Aitor Esteban, stressed that his party cannot be on the side of any alternative that includes Vox. Esteban has breathed from the wound that Feijóo inflicted on him in his speech on Wednesday when he revealed that Bildu is winning the marathon against the PNV and warning him that Sánchez will use them again, as Andoni Ortuzar once said, “like a Kleenex”. For all this, the Basque nationalist has assured that, today, between the PP and the PNV “there is an abyss.”
The Canarian Coalition deputy has asked for “respect” and has reproached the two major parties for being “in their trenches.” Finally, the UPN representative has removed all legitimacy from Bildu “for being the political heir of ETA” and has cried out against those who today “whitewash” them in direct and express reference to the PSOE and Pedro Sánchez.