Wanted to Pedro Sanchez arguments to go down in history? Well, yesterday, Junts gave him some weight: he will be the first president of the Government since the restoration of democracy in Spain to conclude a legislature without approving a single budget. Four years with the counter at zero. It is the forecast made by the leadership of the Popular Party, which rejoices because, two years later, the prophecy launched by its leader is fulfilled, Alberto Núñez Feijóofrom the tribune of the Congress of Deputies.
«Everything that is happening, he already predicted»a person from his team tells LA RAZÓN, alluding to that premonitory phrase he uttered at Pedro Sánchez’s investiture: «When your partners fail you, don’t look for me». So, I knew that, sooner or later, Junts would want to get off the boat. Except for the umpteenth twist in the script – to come back, you could call the film – it does so just when the ship shows signs of sinking, hit by an iceberg called corruption.
Precisely, the judicial front is the reason why in Genoa they think that the president does not have the slightest intention of ending his most turbulent mandate and calling Spaniards to the polls. Sailor simile: «When a captain sails a ship in trouble and the ship is sinking, he knows that the last thing is to abandon it. “The jump into the sea is the elections.” But, the sources consulted conclude, he will not dare to press the nuclear button.
For two reasons, they believe in the popular leadership. «It only addresses the economic and judicial aspects. Get paid and protect yourself. Also, pride. The itching. Accumulating more years in power than Mariano Rajoy and José María Aznar. “Sánchez enjoys every breakfast at the Moncloa Palace; for him, every night is a political and personal triumph.”
In this context, the PP takes a seat and heats up the popcorn. Let the movie continue. “We have time, we are going to enjoy watching the PSOE simmer in the mess that the independence movement has given it.” On whether the break with Junts is as definitive as Miriam Nogueras staged, the theory is that Junts has finally realized that it supported “a person who is not trustworthy.” He has understood “the same thing that the Spaniards understood in 2023, which is why “They preferred Feijóo and gave him more votes than Sánchez.”
The proscribed phrase: “Motion of censure.” Not even instrumental. Precisely because the popular leader is willing to take a step forward, but without compensation and without giving up his candidacy. Immovable conditions that make it impossible for the operation that Carles Puigdemont’s party is contemplating to go ahead. But… there is a possibility. Hit Sánchez with the harsh reality: there is no progressive majority in the Chamber. Yes, there is a majority on the right, particularly for economic initiatives. The big exception: the territorial debate.
Here is the PP strategy. “We have a simple majority in Congress, a simple majority in the Senate and more legislative capacity than the Government itself.” Since Junts has certified the divorce and has announced that it will veto every last text that lands in San Jerónimo from the Moncloa Palace, the PP will intensify its legislative agenda. More initiatives in the Senate, more in Congress. «The problem is that the Board, with Francina Armengol, is dedicated to paralyzing our initiatives. But the fact that he has to act as Sánchez’s shield is significant. Without support for Sánchez, Feijóo is looking for his moment.
Yesterday, the official reaction of the PP to the Junts announcement came first from Feijóo: “How was that the most stable Government in Europe?” Then, different voices, in the case of the Deputy Secretary of Social Policy, Carmen Funez: «This legislature is a failed legislature and is finished because there is a total lack of government, lack of budgets and lack of management. “What we want is to give the voice back to the Spanish people at the polls and decide on a change and a new Government.”
It happens that the PP has taken the measure of Sánchez and knows that the greater the parliamentary weakness and the more indications against his environment, his government and his party, the greater the will to hold on to office. Even so, the official discourse is to demand ballot boxes that will not arrive until 2027. It is the calendar with which Feijóo works. Whatever happens in the territories.
In the Lower House it is no secret that there is an unofficial line of communication between the PP and Junts. Both formations have coincided on a recurring basis in the votes. Common points that the popular group will now take advantage of with greater intensity. Faced with a paralysis of a Government that “is not there to do, but to be there”, an opposition party that seeks to score parliamentary successes. There is a lot of fallow land to plant economically.