in the countryside of Blue summer that this Thursday the PP of Alberto Núñez Feijóo presented, almost everything squares, from wanting to govern Spain alone since the 23-J elections and thus copying the model of María Guardiola in Extremadura, after her break with Vox there, and also support what Carlos Mazón has done in the Valencian Community, where ultra-training has been allowed to sit at the table of the assembly and in two ministries. The spokesman for the PP campaign, Borja Sémper, sanctioned this Thursday in a single act that Feijóo “does not shirk the principle” of running for investiture to govern “without other political formations”, but also that he supports “other arithmetic and singularities in other places”, such as Valencia or Murcia, that is, without “taking a step back” in policies on sexist violence or fundamental rights.
In the presentation on a beach volleyball court of the facilities of the Puerta de Hierro club in Madrid, in front of a large image of the sea of Nerja, accompanied by blue umbrellas with the PP logo and the nostalgia of the Blue summer ―alluding to 1980s TV series― the popular spokesman has repeatedly said that Feijóo’s PP “will not govern at any price”. Sémper didn’t even anticipate the campaign slogan. The aim of the act was to advertise music in an “exciting, positive and with a kind smile” style of the “calm and stable change” that Feijóo advocates after 23-J.
Sémper himself anticipated the journalists’ questions and revealed that next Monday they intend to meet the PSOE to close the pending face-to-face issue, with the idea that this party will clarify to them in advance if it only wants them between Feijóo and Pedro Sánchez, three with the inclusion of Yolanda Díaz, plus debates and under what conditions. In any case, the PP has promised that there will be a Sánchez-Feijóo dialectical duel.
The questions to Sémper focused on trying to clarify the position of Feijóo and, therefore, of the national leadership of the PP, on the agreements with Vox, the share of votes that the ultra formation must concentrate to allow him to enter governments with those popular, and if the leader supports the thesis of total exclusion supported by María Guardiola of Extremadura or the more permissive ones of Carlos Mazón in the Valencian Community. There have been no clear and definitive answers, there have been attacks on Sánchez, Vox and Santiago Abascal.
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The PP’s national campaign spokesman argued that Feijóo and the popular leadership “respect and accompany” Guardiola in his veto allowing Vox to enter the government of Extremadura, which could lead to a repeat election there with unpredictable consequences. Sémper repeated Feijóo’s thesis of granting full powers and freedom to territorial managers to negotiate and specifically to Guardiola, because he claims that she had already made progress in Extremadura even before the elections and because she has a team and a program to do it in that way . However, Guardiola did not win the elections in terms of votes, he does not have an absolute majority and has only 28 seats – the same as the PSOE -, so to govern he needs the explicit support of the five Vox deputies.
Guardiola’s firm stance contrasts with what has happened in other territories, such as the Valencian Community or the Balearic Islands, where his teammates have reached agreements with Vox and where it is assumed they also had their own squads and programmes. Feijóo argued on Wednesday that these different types of agreements were a matter of “proportion” in the number of votes received and countered that it made no sense to accept those conditions with 8% of Extremadura, the best collected by that party in those elections regional , but yes in Valencia, with 12%. The PP of Murcia, which lost two seats under an absolute majority, also refuses to accept Vox in its government, but far surpassed the percentage of votes in Valencia with 18% of the vote.
Sémper did not want to answer this Thursday what Feijóo’s model is for the day after the general elections, in case of victory, Guardiola’s option or Mazón’s. He said he doesn’t want to get out of the script now to get “a wave of blue summer and switch to Sanchismo for Spain”. But earlier he indicated that, after 23-J, if Feijóo wins, he will present his investiture and form a government “without other political formations” and added: “We will not go beyond that principle.”
In A Coruña, the general coordinator of the PP, Elías Bendodo, wanted to slightly qualify the strong statements expressed in recent days in various interviews by Guardiola herself in the sense that she is not willing to swallow everything in order to govern Extremadura. Bendodo opted to “speak to everyone and agree with almost everyone”, alluding to what happened in municipalities such as Barcelona or Vitoria, but also in other municipalities with the Canary Islands Coalition or Vox. And he added: “Talking to everyone doesn’t mean swallowing everything.” For the number three of the PP, what his party must do in these many negotiations is to apply “the mathematics of the state” in order not to “disappoint the expectations of change”.
Questions about the differences in criteria between Extremadura and Valencia or Murcia crowded into Sémper’s summer appearance, but without reaching the goal of determining or clarifying a common criterion. Sémper was questioned about whether Mazón in the Valencian Community had agreed to “govern at any cost” and the national leader of the PP replied that the next president of the Valencian Generalitat, thanks to the support of Vox, can ensure that “a step back in fundamental rights” alluding, above all, to policies against gender-based violence or LGTBI.
The threat of a repeat election in Extremadura does not intimidate Guardiola there, nor Feijóo’s PP nationwide, according to their statements. Sémper endorsed Guardiola’s words even before the election that he would govern alone just to ensure a change in policy and lashed out at the PSOE, other parties and Vox for not being accountable with their votes. And he added: “Sanchismo and the lack of seriousness and radicalism must be repealed”.
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