Alberto Núñez Feijóo’s expression (and mood) has changed after, on September 24, he received the support of his people in the streets of Madrid and after his investiture, although unsuccessful, aroused unanimity in his party and would serve to clearly reinforce his leadership. The president of the PP has risen in his opposition role to Pedro Sánchez.
And Feijóo is aware that the most likely thing is that the general secretary of the PSOE will manage to reissue the majority of 178 votes that he already gathered around the candidacy of Francina Armengol as president of Congress: “There is a negative majority that seems to be “It is the only alternative that can be put together,” he said this Tuesday, in a press conference in the Lower House, after meeting with Felipe VI in the second round of consultations for the investiture.
“My personal opinion is that we are facing a negative majority: negative to the party that won the elections, to the Constitution, to the Rule of Law and to the general interests of the Spanish people,” the PP leader detailed. “There is a coalition of interests that unabashedly unites those who a few months ago were in clear divergence,” he specified.
For this reason, Feijóo believes that, now that Felipe VI has designated Pedro Sánchez as a candidate for the investiture, the coming weeks will discredit democratic institutions. “Dark negotiations, a theatricalization of politics and many lies await us,” he stressed. “There will be more distribution of seats and positions” than dialogue to think about families, he said. And all the “resources”, “principles” and “institutions” of the State will be “susceptible to being auctioned.”
But, although he believes that everything is headed towards a repeat of Sánchez’s Executive and that the pact “is probably already closed or practically closed at this time”, Feijóo considers that there is a possibility of an electoral repetition. Which? Let Puigdemont decide. “Once Sánchez has said no to State agreements, the director of contemporary Spain is Mr. Puigdemont,” explained the Galician leader. “Sánchez is a supporting actor in a play directed by Puigdemont”, he continued. That’s why Feijóo prefers to go to the polls rather than prolong the “theater.”
With what objective? Stop “the enormous deterioration of institutions in Spain.” “The worst Government that Spain has had in 45 years is going to be repeated and aggravated,” Feijóo insisted. And he added that the PP is going to make “an enormous defense of the Constitution, the institutions and the equality of Spaniards before the law”, against “a constellation of minorities.”
Although his diagnosis is gloomy, Feijóo now gives him a renewed strength that must be highlighted, due to the contrast it represents with respect to the previous two months. Feijóo’s emotional change is evident in his oratory, better constructed and with better reflections. This Tuesday, he even point-blank paraphrased the song Nuestro problema, by the cult group Cánovas, Rodrigo, Adolfo y Guzmán, when asked about his possible meeting with the acting president: “Custom engendered boredom between the two.”
In bullfighting terms it would be said that Feijóo is with grass in his mouth. In fact, to those who thought he would not want to fight from the opposition, he responded today that “the PP is going to put all its resources in favor of the equality of citizens” and that it will fight all the battles if it has to remain in the opposition. “I give you confidence, peace and tranquility. We are not going to let you down,” he concluded.