Feijóo launches the battle with the PNV to leave Vox without arguments and rebound in the Basque Country

The second day of the parliamentary debate on the investiture had a clear high point in the hand-to-hand confrontation between Alberto Núñez Feijóo and Aitor Esteban. The leader of the PP, who had until then temporized his criticism of the PNV, in search of a rapprochement, loomed with everything against the jeltzales. If until now he had tried to seduce the leadership of the EBB – he met secretly with Andoni Ortuzar on September 7 – and had praised the Lehendakari Iñigo Urkullu, the president of the PP yesterday completely changed his step and lashed mercilessly and with Marianist remonstrance to the parliamentary spokesperson of the Basque nationalists.

Feijóo asked the PNV why “it competes with Bildu to be the first to surrender to Sánchez” and what project it shares with Arnaldo Otegi's party for Euskadi. He even asked Esteban if he wants to continue being “Sanchez's Kleenex.”. That was music to the ears of the PP bench. “Feijóo has shown on the platform that you can give the PNV a strong hand, but with kid gloves,” a leader from Genoa assured this newspaper.

“It was time for someone to tell four truths to the face of the PNV, and also truths that the voters and leaders of the PNV themselves are saying, who are afraid that Bildu will surprise them because they are involved in the same equation as them,” a veteran deputy reasoned in the Congress courtyard.

But beyond the confrontation typical of the investiture – in the end, the PNV voted “no” -, the background of this parliamentary fight is the PP's attempt to reinforce its brand in the Basque Country to compete for the moderate vote of nationalism in the 2024 regional elections, which will be held no later than July. To do this, the popular ones are going to undertake a renewal of the Basque PP, with Laura Garrido as the favorite to succeed Carlos Irtugaiz and Javier de Andrés in second place on the starting grid, as this newspaper reported.

Furthermore, this tactical move by the PP would leave Vox “without room for maneuver” to criticize Feijóo for his closeness to nationalism, they judge in Genoa. “They can no longer say in the future that the PP is always trying” to seduce the PNV, they add.

“What we were looking for was to establish our position regarding the Basque elections, but also in general terms,” say sources from Genoa.. Feijóo himself expressed it in the Hemicycle. «There is a PNV voter who is upset to see how his party votes the same as Bildu. “There is a moderate Basque Nationalist Party voter who finds it difficult to understand that he is part of the coalition with Bildu, ERC and the Communist Party,” he said.. “I feel respect from the disagreement for the PNV and also empathy for some of its cadres, for its voters and for its social base, among other things because a good part of its social base is ours,” he told Esteban, to add : «Don't laugh. “We will see in the next Basque elections how we turn out.”

For Esteban, it is “touching” but also “contradictory” that the PP is concerned about the PNV when at the same time it claims that it can attract its votes in Euskadi.. “Mr. Esteban should be careful with the marathons because Bildu is starting to beat the PNV,” said the candidate for the investiture, who was very ironic throughout the dialectical confrontation.. For example: «Don't you think that I also have the right to be progressive just like you? Bildu would then govern in the Provincial Council of Guipúzcoa and in Vitoria. And that's fine with you, right? The truth is that PNV voters learn something more every day, your honor,” he said, laughing.. “But hey, this is the new PNV…”, he charged.

The fight for the Basque middle classes is served. However, in the PP they are aware that it will be very difficult to fight for the “useful vote” of the PNV. Because? Because “when Bildu comes first in the polls, all the useful votes in the center-right space go to the PNV,” as one of the interlocutors of this newspaper acknowledges. “But even so, you have to try to do something new to recover the brand and improve,” adds the same popular position. “We must change leadership and reposition the party,” he concludes.

In Genoa they are aware that the departure from the PNV also has its counterparts, but they believe that it will be “reconcilable” if in the future the Jeltzales break with Sánchez.