Alberto Núñez Feijóo showed this Tuesday before Felipe VI his willingness to accept the commission to attempt his investiture in the Congress of Deputies. The leader of the PP announced that in the event that he was appointed, as it has finally been, he would begin a round of contacts with the representatives of the parliamentary groups starting next Monday or once they are already constituted, since the president of The Lower House, Francina Armengol, has extended said period until this Friday.
The winner of the last elections has presented as credentials in the Palacio de la Zarzuela the 172 votes guaranteed by the 33 Vox deputies and the sole representatives of the Canary Islands Coalition and UPN and has insisted on the “endorsement” of being the candidate of the party with the most electoral support. Likewise, he defends that, although the PSOE “persists in ignoring it”, the verdict of the polls also evidenced the “desire” to “overcome a period of misgovernment and instability”.
“Leaving this desire to turn the page orphaned would be irresponsible and I believe that the Spanish people do not deserve it,” Feijóo argued at a press conference after the meeting with the King and before learning of the monarch’s decision. “Should the commission take place, I intend to represent at the inauguration an immense majority that wishes to preserve the democratic dignity for which so many have fought and on which our common future depends so much,” he stressed.
If he manages to cross the door of La Moncloa, the PP leader sets among his basic pillars the defense of the Constitution and “scrupulous respect” for judicial sentences and procedures, implicitly alluding to the possibility that Pedro Sánchez grants to the parties pro-independence supporters more benefits for those involved in the illegal 1-0 referendum in Catalonia as they demand in exchange for their parliamentary support. The candidate for re-election as president has also expressed this Tuesday his predisposition to attend an investiture, although he does not have all the necessary support either.
“My distance for a government would be only four deputies from an absolute majority; the PSOE, after losing, is at a distance from an amnesty, from an independence referendum and from making official the inequality of the Spaniards”, he stressed, in turn, Feijóo. “I will strive to serve as a spokesperson for those who want a stable government, concerned with governing rather than surviving, and that is not contingent on any personal ambition,” he added.
At the press conference in Congress, the popular candidate wanted to thank the parties that have promised to vote in favor of his investiture and in particular Vox, which had demanded an “unequivocal and public demonstration” of his commitment to that it will not participate in a “sanitary cordon” to its formation. This claim by the third political force occurred after the Congress Table had been left out for the week, in which the popular ones won four of the nine positions without ceding any to their potential investiture partners.
“I have spoken with Mr. [Santiago] Abascal, we have clarified the misunderstandings and we have assessed the discrepancies,” Feijóo said, referring to a conversation that took place before his interlocutor also went to meet with the King. “We have a relationship of democratic normality with the shared objective of protecting our nation and defending the Constitution. We are doing so in different communities and town halls where we govern jointly and we will also do so in defense of a constitutional government for Spain of the PP alone “, has added.
And, to make it crystal clear, he added: “I want to acknowledge Vox’s support without demands, solely conditioned on Spain recovering the independence of its institutions, the equality of all citizens and the censorship of the impositions of minorities (. ..). It is confirmed that our collaborative relationship will be maintained because we will have been consistent with the will expressed at the polls by more than 11 million Spaniards”.
Feijóo has also regretted that there are parties that have not attended the consultations with the head of state, alluding to ERC, Junts, Bildu and BNG: “They make it clear that what interests them in Spain and its governance is rather little that they do not respect our democratic institutions. It will be bad for us if we have a government that is based on them”.
“I am aware that those who wish to undermine our unity and fragment the Spain of the autonomies undoubtedly prefer a more manageable candidate. I intend to be the candidate of the Spaniards who, regardless of their vote, want stability, moderation, agreements and Constitution”, has concluded the popular aspirant.