Feijóo encourages a mutiny in the PSOE and relegates the pact with Vox to "the last option"

Alberto Núñez Feijóo arrives at the day of reflection exhausted. The electoral call was so sudden that there was no time to rest after the 28-M race. It has spent over 100 days on the road. Thousands and thousands of kilometers, dozens of cities, towns, gas stations, airports, bars. Now there are just over 24 hours left to know the outcome. Although an absolute majority was fantasized, that scenario is more than ruled out in Genoa. But the objective is still to cross the border of seats necessary to achieve “a Government of one piece.” No wallets for Vox. With the polls about to open, the PP signs a result that is around 155 deputies. To a twenty of the absolute. Enough, they say, to avoid the coalition.

If that forecast comes true, Feijóo would call the PSOE in the first place, “even if it bothers Vox”. But hope that the interlocutor is not Pedro Sánchez. With him, they say in Genoa, it would be impossible to negotiate. even less to agree. In the last days of the campaign, the leadership of the PP has added fuel to the thesis of an eventual replacement of the socialist candidate. In this case, they appeal to the baronies to move Sánchez's chair if he chooses to resist. The latest published polls suggest that the chief executive will lose the elections, but not too many seats will be left along the way. The night could end, according to the poll, in the environment of 110 seats. Only ten below his 2019 result.

In Genoa they also point out that the PSOE will not drop excessively because these elections will feed on the vote located to their left. They believe that Yolanda Díaz does not raise her head and will not even be able to reissue the result of Podemos in the last generals. But they insist on the idea of a mutiny in the ranks of the socialists. “It would be inconceivable that someone who has been president of the Government and loses the elections remains in the opposition,” they urge. They see the continuity of Sánchez as a “risk” for their interests, especially if the party does not find a profile willing to start the mandate with a minimum of four years in the opposition ahead.

During the campaign, Feijóo has left countless messages in this regard. He already made quite a declaration of intent when he announced, during the presentation of the electoral program, that he would call the barons of the PSOE to negotiate an investiture and ask them to put pressure on Sánchez to force an abstention if he refused.. In his interview with El Confidencial, the president of the popular also highlighted the “close friendship” that unites him with various socialist presidents, such as Lambán or Vara. And he assured in El Español that he felt “closer” to leaders like Emiliano García-Page than to Vox.

In the PP he encourages in public and in private the idea of a “re-foundation” of the PSOE after 23-J. A party, they say, that recovers “the sense of State” and prioritizes stability over the blockade, even if it is not the winning force. During the face-to-face on July 10, Feijóo offered Sánchez to sign a document in which both promised to let the one with the most votes govern.. Now point out. “I have made that offer to the Socialist Party, not to Sánchez. I am certain that the PSOE is going to be rebuilt,” he insisted this Friday during the last electoral interview in COPE.

Whatever happens to your left, what the PP is also clear about is that, if a result of more than 150 deputies is confirmed, it would exhaust all avenues before signing an agreement with Santiago Abascal. “Vox is the last option”, they summarize in the party leadership. The a priori insurmountable scenario is that of a failed first inauguration —an absolute majority is required— and then seek the abstention of the groups in the second vote, in which the popular candidate would only need more yeses than noes to assemble a solo minority government..

As published by El Confidencial, Feijóo's intention, in case of victory on 23-J, is to sit down with all the groups that make up the parliamentary arc in search of support. The only exception is Bildu. That would mean that he would attempt an audience with the leaders of pro-independence forces, such as ERC or Junts. The ties with the PNV are closer and he will also seek an abstention from the Basque nationalists. The framework that he will present to the groups is to choose between “Feijóo alone, or with Abascal”. Electoral repetition is not an option. If they deny it an abstention, the PP would have the story that neither the PSOE nor the other parties have left it any other option than the pact with Vox, without closing the door on a two-color government.