Feijóo clings to "this is not closed" while the PP looks at Ayuso

The promise that Alberto Núñez Feijóo made to Manuel Fraga weighs more today than ever. That commitment led him to step forward a little over a year ago and take command of Genoa.. Those who know him assure that the decision cost him. More because of the personal situation, his wife and their six-year-old son had a life made in Galicia, than because of the vertigo of jumping into the national arena.

Even today, in their closest team, “the Galicians” as they refer to them in the game, they have not been able to take the setback of not adding up with Vox. The vote count soon showed that the victory over the PSOE would not be overwhelming, but what nobody expected is that it would not join Vox. What went wrong? There are interpretations for all tastes. “At the past bull it is very easy”, they defend themselves from the circle of trust of the leader. There is a coincidence that the last week of the campaign was the turning point towards disaster. In the game the most veterans began to alert that something was not going well. Those who had campaigned with Mariano Rajoy soon detected that they had to “bite” the PSOE. Yolanda Díaz opened the ban so that Feijóo's relationship with the drug trafficker Marcial Dorado was a “Malay drop” that fell on the honor of the Galician. The main failure, according to what party sources tell this newspaper, is that the Genoa leadership was notified days before that Moncloa was preparing dossiers on Dorado. “Nobody paid attention. They rode on the backs of the polls”, they lament from the party.

The truth is that Feijóo did not know how to deal with the questions from journalists on a subject that his Praetorian Guard considered “amortized”. He began by saying that at that time “there was no Google” to justify that he was unaware of the activities of the man with whom he shared a yacht and ended by saying that he was a “smuggler”. The “slip” added to the controversy over pensions. Feijóo got entangled with the rise in the CPI due to the stupefaction of the party, which did not believe how those responsible for communication had not been able to amend the “failure” that was already detected during the face-to-face with Sánchez.

Over and over again they have reviewed the possible vote leaks, but now it is time to look to the future. The seat that the foreign vote has chosen in Madrid for the PP has raised spirits among the popular. With the new distribution of forces, 137 of the PP against 121 of the PSOE, the “yes” of Carles Puigdemont is essential for the president to repeat. The popular will play all their cards.

There are contacts with Basque and Catalan businessmen to make the PNV turn around, and even explore a path with Junts. “Negotiations cannot be broadcast”, scolds a former high-ranking official in Mariano Rajoy's government who, despite mistrusting the Basque nationalists, assures that the only option, and a very remote one, is to open a discreet path of dialogue. Feijóo maintains an “excellent” relationship with Íñigo Urkullu, but there are many who warn him that the Lendakari is no longer the one in charge: “Ortuzar is the one who sets the roadmap”, sentence popular Basque officials who see it as “impossible” to attract to the PNV.

In this situation, Feijóo is the one who will have to decide his future. In the PP, after the trauma of not governing, the pools on leadership have begun. There is a consensus that the Galician has the legitimacy to decide whether to stay or go, but there are also the majority who take it for granted that the opposition will be tough not so much because of Sánchez but because the Pyrrhic victory has placed Isabel Díaz Ayuso as the “natural leader “. The intention at this time is to “fight”. The dream scenario draws an electoral repetition where Feijóo would repeat as a candidate without internal contestation and where, as happened with Rajoy, it is expected to improve the results by absorbing Vox.

Those of Santiago Abascal are the “declared enemy” for the PP. They blame the pacts with the extreme right for the fact that the polls that pointed to more than 150 seats were not met. Opinions are divided, but both sides blame Genoa for not having managed bilateral relations with Vox. Those who agree with what Esperanza Aguirre expressed point out that the “partners” were attacked so much that the left ended up mobilizing for fear of “involution” cheered by the PSOE, others point out the “mess” of the agreements that were signed and the lack of a clear directive from Feijóo himself to the barons on how and when to agree with Vox. The national leadership got carried away and it was in Extremadura, when the trackings began to sound the alarms, when María Guardiola was pressured to retract in pursuit of stability. It was late. The left already had the story. The moderate voter did not understand “I do not want to agree with Vox” while investitures were being signed.

The dilemma is precisely in the investiture of Feijóo. The leader of the PP is ready to go, but there are voices that consider that he will be “defeated”. The King will not have an easy role either given that the PP is the list with the most votes, but except for surprises, Feijóo would have to be proposed despite not having enough support. The barons support playing the winner's card, although from the point of view of establishing a position and contrasting the country's project with Sánchez. None trusts an alternative majority and here the spigot of succession opens. Few see the Galician in the opposition. Remember that he always said that the important thing “is not to win but to govern”.

His convictions collide with the path that remains for him to travel. He came to say months ago that he would not continue leading the party if he did not reach Moncloa. Today his closest circle supports him to “resist”. The “Galicians” will be with him on the bench of Congress. From his right hand, Mar Sánchez, to his chief of staff, Marta Varela, they have won a seat. The scenario if Sánchez manages to reissue Frankenstein will be complicated internally. The shadow of Díaz Ayuso will always be present. There are even members of the national leadership who take it for granted that the Madrid will end up making the leap. He will be prudent because his gurus advise him to wait. This is not the time to fight, but neither will it be for Feijóo in two years, if the legislature is short, or in four.

The PP will let Feijóo do it, but the forces are already positioning themselves around Juanma Moreno and Isabel Díaz Ayuso. The first will prop up the Galician until the last minute. He represents the PP of the “sorayos” and of Rajoy, the second has the favor of former president José María Aznar. The party waits for him to speak and they remember that with a similar result he appeared before another Galician, Rajoy, demanding a National Congress in 2015. The challenge is the same today: to unite the right since divided it will be difficult to govern.