It was Feijóo’s big moment. Face to face with his biggest rival, Pedro Sánchez, presenting himself as the winner of the general elections after being endorsed by the King as a candidate for the investiture, despite not having enough support for that reality to turn into a change of government. Aware of this situation, the leader of the Popular Party put on the table a proposal for the same PSOE that he asked to “repeal” to allow him to govern an ‘express’ legislature of a minimum of two years with six major State Pacts.
What Feijóo did not rule on is how he would combine some of these great pacts with an essential ally for the popular in a handful of autonomous governments, Vox. At a time marked by tension in the vote on the Constitution of the Congress Table, in which the PP announced at the last minute that it would vote for itself -leaving it without sufficient support to get a seat in this important body, that is, , leaving them out-, the nerves of whether Vox would withdraw public support for the PP to let them govern alone were saved in extremisthe same day that Abascal dispatched with Felipe VI.
The price to pay for Feijóo became clear, after the public recognition of the coalition Executives or those supported by the extreme right that he made after Abascal made this kind of ‘blank check’ subject to the PP not participating in any type of sanitary cordon. to their formation. However, it became clear that the relationship between the two rights is not going through its best moment and that friction can cause bridges to blow up in the most unexpected way. The next big test of these political marriages will be fought in Murcia, where if they do not come closer in the coming days they are headed for an electoral repetition.
A proposal that will end up in the hands of Abascal
In this sense, Feijóo himself was asked this Wednesday if he will meet and transfer these same proposals to the third and fourth most voted parties, that is, Vox and Sumar, respectively. Taking up the question from the press, he avoided mentioning the name of Abascal’s formation: “About whether I am going to meet with the third party, of course.” And he also clarified whether Vox was going to receive the same document, clearing up doubts: “What do we offer to the rest of the political parties? This. If I offer this to the second political force, I am not going to offer the third, or others, issues. different”.
What are you offering us, a pact with Vox to repeal ‘sanchismo’ for two years?
Pilar Alegría, federal spokesperson for the PSOE, to Feijóo
With the previous statement, Feijóo has made it clear that “this” will be the political guidelines of what Vox will have to decide to support when the time comes for the investiture vote. The socialist federal spokesperson herself, Pilar Alegría, left a significant reflection on the PP proposal and its relationship with those of Abascal: “What is it offering us, a pact with Vox to repeal ‘sanchismo’ for two years?”, recalling that with that promise both right-wing parties presented themselves to the 23-J elections.
The thorny issues for Vox in Feijóo’s offer to Sánchez… and the rest
With this backdrop, there are at least three of these agreements proposed by Feijóo that contain thorny issues for the formation of the extreme right, as can be seen from previous statements by its leaders or from its own political program. Also some nod to the language that the ultra formation has been using and to which the popular ones have been added for some time.
In general, they have to do with some of Vox’s great ‘crusades’ against feminism, the fight against climate change or the current regional and territorial model. Although it is necessary to emphasize that Feijóo’s proposals are not developed with concrete measures and conform to brief guidelines.
1- The regional and territorial model. Without a doubt, the last of the great State Pacts proposed by Feijóo is the one that can clash the most with Vox’s political argument. The PP is committed to “converting the Senate into a true Chamber of territorial representation and strengthening the Spain of Autonomies, through a multilateral dialogue that allows common decisions on common issues to be adopted.”
Well, Vox’s plans for the Senate differ quite a bit from a reform, according to the statements made a year ago by the now former secretary general Javier Ortega Smith. “Vox does not want cemeteries to park dinosaurs because they are useless and cost us a lot of money,” he said, promising that they would close them if they had enough strength to promote a reform of the Constitution – on June 23 they did not get a single act in the Chamber High-.
On the other hand, at that same point, the popular ones are committed primarily to approving “a new regional and local financing model that guarantees equal services to all citizens.” With that mere phrase, it is difficult to figure out where Feijóo would propose to go. Does guaranteeing this equality mean making changes to the Basque quota that Vox wants to take over? Does it mean a change in the distribution of financing that gives priority to autonomies with deficiencies compared to the population size criteria that Madrid or Valencia defend tooth and nail?
However, it is convenient to remember that it was Núñez Feijóo himself, during his time as president of the Xunta de Galicia, who led and promoted the so-called Santiago de Compostela Summit and the subsequent joint declaration of eight regional presidents, those of Galicia, Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha, Aragón, Extremadura, Asturias, La Rioja and Cantabria. There they established a common position on regional financing and – the key – depopulation, while demanding that this debate not be carried out with individual negotiations, as with the Catalan Government.
2- The ‘forbidden words’ for Vox in the Water Pact. The next controversy that Feijóo’s offer could generate within the far right is found in the fifth point, an issue that the PP has already been demanding. Sometimes due to the pressure, both national and international, that was being exerted against the Junta de Andalucía for the processing of the Irrigation Law, demanding to execute hydraulic actions.
A priori, a pact for water should not be a problem for Vox, since it forms one of its electoral proposals. Specifically, under the name of a National Water Plan that promotes the interconnection of all the basins of the country. However, Feijóo’s document includes a major nuance for those of Abascal. From the PP they ask that access to this basic resource be guaranteed “at the current moment and in the face of the foreseeable worsening derived from climate change.”
Vox maintains a complicated position regarding the concept of “climate change.” Although there are leaders who have slipped that this process is being alerted by practically the entire scientific community, other voices have made the party’s official position more specific. The head of the list for Almería, Rocío de Meer, assured that “Vox does not deny climate change, it exists, what happens is that there is no scientific unanimity that climate change is caused by man.” She, at the same time, cried out against the community consensus: “No one has voted and they impose third-party institutions such as Brussels are going to have harmful consequences for our primary sector.”
3- Between gender equality and families. As expected, the other big issue that can make Vox uncomfortable has to do with equality between the sexes. In the first of the six proposed pacts, the PP proposes to guarantee the viability of “equality between women and men”.
It would be useful to know for sure if Feijóo is proposing a pact that would be accompanied by economic resources, but it could hardly be executed any other way. However, the reality is that the position that the PP coalition partner has been showing in different communities has been to try to shelve Equality policies. His position on sexist violence and his refusal to participate in minutes of silence for the victims are also well known.
In the Vox electoral program they have even promised to repeal the laws on gender violence, trans or change the Ministry of Equality for one of the Family. Precisely, that word is the great coincidence in Feijóo’s proposal with the language that Abascal’s formation has been using: “A Pact for Families will be promoted, so that they have greater capacity for what is priority and make conciliation possible.” He would also like to know how much there is agreement with Vox in the statement of “for priority.”
