Alberto Núñez Feijóo has summoned his barons this Sunday at the Soutomaior Castle, in Pontevedra, after the King has proposed him as a candidate to become president of the Government. Along with the symbolic aspect of the enclave, since it is the place where the PP had celebrated the beginning of the political course until seven years ago when the Provincial Council -on which it depends- passed into the hands of the PSOE, the strategy for his investiture.
At the moment, regional presidents such as Andalusia, Juanma Moreno, Aragón, Jorge Azcón, and the party leader in Castilla-La Mancha, Francisco Núñez, have confirmed their attendance. On the other hand, Isabel Díaz Ayuso from Madrid, who is traveling and cannot change the return flight, will not attend, as required by her environment, nor Carlos Mazón from Valencia, who has a family commitment and in the afternoon will attend the match of Villarreal football.
The PP confirmed this act on Wednesday after the president of Congress, Francina Armengol, set the investiture debate for September 26 and 27, at which time the barons were informed of its celebration. It will be from next Monday when Feijóo begins a round of contacts with the representatives of the parliamentary groups, with the only red line of EH Bildu, to which ERC has already said that it will not attend.
Since 2016, the PSOE had prevented the PP from using the Soutomaior Castle, arguing that it could not be used for political events. The Genoa-based party congratulates that a decision that they considered arbitrary is left behind after having regained power from the Provincial Council on May 28, reports Efe.
Feijóo faces an investiture doomed to failure because he has 172 confirmed votes in favour, four less than the absolute majority of 176: the 137 deputies from his group, the 33 from Vox and the two parliamentarians from UPN and the Canary Coalition. Although they do not hide that it is a “very difficult” challenge, the popular ones do not resign themselves and will try to gather the support they lack in the four weeks that lie ahead until the investiture debate.
“Whatever the end result of this process, we will fulfill our responsibility to try to unite wills around a political project for the country,” said Borja Sémper, deputy secretary of the party that won the 23-J elections, on Thursday. “We have been talking about the referendum for self-determination, amnesties, pardons for too long… We have been talking about the navel of politicians for too long and we are not talking about the country’s needs,” he added in an interview on RNE.
After Feijóo’s team showed its willingness to speak to all parties “except those who have not condemned terrorism”, alluding to EH Bildu, it has already received its first slam: ERC sources have indicated that its formation ” does not speak” with the PP, informs Europa Press.
“We are going to try to do something normal, which is a process of institutional conversation with the groups represented in the Chamber. This does not prejudge anything, it is simply a matter of recovering institutionality and normality, with light and stenographers,” Sémper specified.
And about Carles Puigdemont’s party: “Everyone knows how far we are from Junts because its priority, secondary, number three, four and five objective is to achieve independence for Catalonia. That makes it very difficult, if not impossible , any type of agreement”.