The renewal of the Basque PP, which will finally hold its regional congress on November 4 after years of instability, opens the door to strengthening the rest of the territorial leaderships that were choked by Genoa in the first stage of Alberto Núñez Feijóo's mandate.. In addition to Euskadi, the conclaves of La Rioja, Catalonia and Asturias are still pending. And the national leadership is only guaranteed a smooth transfer in the first, where Gonzalo Capellán governs with an absolute majority and has “total legitimacy” to take over the reins of the formation.. The Catalan schism and the fracture between the leadership and Alejandro Fernández anticipate a high-voltage congress in Catalonia. But Genoa does not plan to open that melon in the short term.
Although in the first instance the PP proposed to “accelerate” with the pending regional conclaves and even have its organic renewal ready before the end of the year, the truth is that the party leadership has chosen not to move waters that already revolts descend. The failed investiture of Alberto Núñez Feijóo left a positive reading internally. Despite the parliamentary defeat, the experience served as glue in some ranks where concern had been established over the “up and downs” and “disorientation” of the leadership after 23-J, and the party once again breathed united behind the figure of Galician president despite the fact that his place will be in the opposition and not in the Moncloa, at least in the short term. And, for the moment, the popular leadership prioritizes that internal peace over organic debates.
In the PP of Catalonia they assure that they have not yet received news from Genoa to begin activating the machinery and discounting the days for holding a congress. The last one was held in 2018. Pablo Casado had already taken charge of the party at the national level, and trusted Alejandro Fernández to take over from Xavier García Albiol. But the new leader of the popular Catalans was very far from reviving the PP brand in Catalonia. The terrible electoral results took their toll and had weight in the decision to withdraw confidence in the leader by the new leadership of Genoa. But the continuous disagreements between Alejandro Fernández and the Madrid leadership in recent months have only strengthened that thesis.. “Alejandro is only a spokesman for himself,” national leaders said.
Genoa has a great task pending in Catalonia. Feijóo seeks to rebuild the party with new teams and speeches, and a strengthened leadership so that a possible electoral advance does not catch him on the wrong foot. In principle, the Catalan elections do not take place until 2025, hence the party does not feel too much pressure when it comes to holding the regional conclave as soon as possible without the certainty that it will be able to impose its candidate without leading to fractures and tensions..
In the leadership of the PP they doubt that Feijóo can impose the Basque route in this case and that there is only the candidacy of the apparatus in a possible conclave. Or in other words: the party fears that Alejandro Fernández will fight and run in the Catalan PP primaries, supported by a sector of the Catalan militancy that supports him unconditionally, among whom is Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo..
Feijóo has always had a couple of clear candidates to relieve Alejandro Fernández. One of the best positioned is the mayor of Castelldefels, Manuel Reyes, who shares the podium with MEP Dolors Montserrat, who also has the advantage of having a seat on the Genoa steering committee.. The leadership of Genoa tried without success to solve the Fernández problem in the general elections. Although his name was floated for months to lead the PP's ballot for Barcelona, Génova finally offered him to head the party's list for Tarragona, an exit that would have made things easier for Feijóo, but which Alejandro Fernández rejected.. “After 23-J, we are going to live again episodes in Catalonia that will demand a strong voice that defends the rights and freedoms of non-nationalist Catalans (…). “I'm not going to abandon you,” he wrote, a declaration of intent against the wishes of Feijóo's leadership..
I would like to thank, with all my heart, the opportunity that my party gives me to return to the Congress of Deputies. BUT I STAY IN CATALONIA.
At the time, I was very critical of those politicians who, at the first difficulty, went to Madrid and left behind a huge…— Alejandro Fernández (@alejandroTGN) June 10, 2023
In the 23-J elections, the PP managed to triple its results in Catalonia. But Feijóo's goal is much more ambitious. The popular leader wants to present himself in Catalonia as the only constitutionalist alternative to Sánchez's concessions to sovereignty, a banner with which he intends to grow at the expense of the most moderate sector of the PSC, stop Vox and attract all former Ciudadanos voters. But he knows that a civil war would be a disastrous letter of introduction.