Discomfort in the ranks of the PP due to the "low profile" of the Feijóo list in Madrid

The secrecy that Alberto Núñez Feijóo imposed around his lists led this Wednesday to a certain “disappointment” in the PP. The first name to come out of the hype was number two for Madrid. The Galician had chosen Marta Rivera de la Cruz, former Citizens and Minister of Culture in the Government of Isabel Díaz Ayuso. If the idea of the national leadership was to surprise, it succeeded. No one in the popular ranks contemplated his name in any pool. A “signing of weight” was expected after the general secretary, Cuca Gamarra, was head of the list for La Rioja. “Who is Marta Rivera? I don't put a face on it ”, they wondered in the territories, where they did not come out of amazement.

Beyond the fact that he is not a member of the PP, the downside that Rivera de la Cruz is given is that he is a “middleweight”. The reflection that was made in the party was that when an independent or an outsider is incorporated, what is sought is to give a coup d'état. “If it had been Villacís, it would be understood,” said a baron who has been fighting with Genoa over the names in recent weeks. That Feijóo wanted “transversal” lists and would incorporate former Cs charges was known. The Galician was looking for women with profiles such as Begoña Villacís or Inés Arrimadas, who would focus the candidacy.

In the case of the former deputy mayor of Madrid, the Galician came to speak with her to incorporate her into the PP. The failed meeting with the general coordinator, Elías Bendodo, before making the candidacy for the Madrid City Council was the end point. She has not been contacted again after she lost her elected status on 28-M. Arrimadas never considered the trip to Genoa, although, according to popular sources, it would have been “very well received”.. His relationship with the PP deteriorated in the time of Pablo Casado, when the former secretary general Teodoro García Egea incorporated Fran Hervías to dismantle Ciudadanos.

Rivera de la Cruz, in addition to the orange past in the match, is placed as a “quota” Ayuso. The president of the Community of Madrid has placed people she trusts in leading positions in Congress, such as the former president of the Assembly Eugenia Carballedo, Pedro Múñoz Abrines or Jaime de los Santos. Feijóo has opted since he arrived to close wounds with the baroness. His absolute majority gives him gallons to have a voice at the national level. His chief of staff, Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, has also advised the president of the PP “when required,” according to popular sources.

Another of the most repeated names among the PP charges was that of Fátima Báñez. She was expected as a tandem with Feijóo. And as it already happened for the position of general secretary, it has not finished landing. “We needed someone strong economically,” lamented a veteran, who ventured that “a minister does not come out of this group.” This is where the second phase comes into play. The popular believe that Feijóo has saved the letter from Mariano Rajoy's ex for when he lands in Moncloa. From Isabel García Tejerina to the former Minister of Development Íñigo de la Serna, several appear among those called to have a chair in the future Council of Ministers together with Báñez. With Rajoy, they have been talking about the preparation of the lists. The PP asks that the experience of those exiled by the motion of censure be thrown away if 23-J is won.

At the hand of the other former president, José María Aznar, it is attributed that Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo continues as a deputy. In Genoa there were those who vetoed his name, but Feijóo is a born integrator. He knows that to broaden the party he must have the different sensibilities. Álvarez de Toledo represents the most liberal part of the PP and can help fish among Vox voters. Carlos Aragonés also comes from Aznarism. Within his vocation of “not making blood”, the Galician has kept several married couples on the list, such as Beatriz Fanjul or Antonio González Terol, among others.

The Galicians are other of the protagonists. The former president of the Xunta has surrounded himself with two women of his absolute confidence, Marta Varela, his chief of staff in Genoa, and his right-hand man since he was in the opposition in Galicia, Mar Sánchez Sierra. Since he landed in Madrid, the leader of the PP has maintained his hard core in Galicia, which also includes the head of Organization, Miguel Tellado. Despite the fact that “not opening up” has been made ugly internally, these appointments reinforce the theory that Feijóo “trusts very few”. Beyond an award for those who have escorted him in his political career, in the PP it is read as a clear declaration of intentions to shield itself. The case of Jorge Moragas is only remembered as a chief of staff with a seat.