In August, the PP considered moderating its speech on independence, aiming to at least get closer to the Junts or the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV, for its acronym in Spanish), also on the right and with six votes in parliament, which can also. enough to form the desired majority.
However, the Vox alliance makes any kind of negotiation in these sectors impossible. The leader of the Spanish extreme right, Santiago Abascal – is considered likely to be vice-premier, if Feijóo invests in the position – characterized, among other things, by having a violent speech against all regionalist parties, left or right.
In the case of the Basque parties – in addition to the PNV, there is also the left-wing EH Bildu, with five votes -, Abascal often calls them “terrorists”, referring to the fact that some of their representatives part of an organization like The Basque Homeland and Freedom, the now extinct nationalist guerrilla group better known as ETA, its acronym in the Basque language.
In addition to the Basques and Catalans, three other regional parties that elected one representative each could also decide in favor of Feijóo: the People’s Union of Navarra (center right), the Canary Coalition Islands (center-right) and the Galician Nationalist Bloc (center-left). However, none of them are willing to support the PP if Vox continues to be part of the coalition.
Sánchez has a chance
Meanwhile, the current Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, leader of the Socialist Workers’ Party of Spain (PSOE) and in office since 2018, is waiting to see what happens on Tuesday, envisioning the possibility of remaining in office, depending on the status.
Feijó has three chances to become the majority – if he fails on Tuesday, there will be a new vote on Wednesday (27/09), and a third and final one, if necessary, on Friday (29/09).
If the PP fails three times to obtain the required 176 votes, King Felipe VI will be forced to call the leaders of the main parties to a new round of meetings.
After these meetings, two possibilities open up. One of them is to give Sánchez a chance to form a majority. Another is the call for new elections, probably in November this year.
The authorization for Sánchez to try to form a majority requires the monarch to consider that the result of the left in the election on July 23 is enough to obtain this right.
In the vote held two months ago, the PSOE obtained 121 deputies and its coalition with the progressive Movimento Somar (successor to the extinct Podemos and led by Vice Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz), elected another 31, which became the bench of 152 representatives.
Although it is still far from the quorum of 176, the trump card of the government is the fact that it has reached this necessary majority twice since that election: when it chose the socialist Francina Armengol as the new president of the Chamber and when the law was approved that. allows the use of the Basque, Catalan and Galician languages in the official ceremonies of the Congress.
In two votes, held in August, the PSOE got the support of all regionalist parliamentarians, who together received 28 votes.
However, if the Spanish monarch gives Sánchez a chance to become a majority, it will be a challenge for him to get 14 votes from the Catalan parties, which have so far shown themselves to be unrelenting in their demand for of amnesty for those arrested. in the referendum.
It is a measure that the socialist prime minister is reluctant to commit to. In his five years in government, not a single move was made in favor of pardoning independence activists.
