The PP gets back on track in the last days of the campaign in Galicia with the expectation that there are no new shocks and, with the idea of having under control the strong controversy unleashed as a result of the analysis they made about the amnesty demanded by Junts and the debate of the Conditional pardons for Carles Puigdemont. The last few days have been very turbulent within the party, where the “incomprehension” about what happened. The letter from the ‘former president’ of the Generalitat, who fled Spain six years ago and settled in Belgium, with a threat to the PP that everything the two parties talked about would be known, unleashed news about the conservatives’ speech.
These explanations from the national leadership had a full impact on the Galician electoral campaign, which was already sufficiently nationalized for what is usually usual. In the rest of the territories, from north to south, leaders at all levels recognize “not understanding anything at all”. And despite all the chaos generated, several regional presidents and the conservative leadership itself trust that the electoral impact can be “controlled”. “Thank goodness this happened with elections in Galicia,” several positions with institutional responsibilities coincide.
“Galicia has its own political and media ecosystem”, they explain in a deep reflection on how the controversy can influence the elections. And there is another conclusion that many popular leaders agree on: “This in my community destroys us. Among other things because Vox would have doubled his chances. The left may not reactivate, but ours are demobilizing. And Vox is growing like crazy,” they say in territories with coalition governments and other autonomies where the extreme right is strong.
It so happens that Vox does not exist in Galicia. It is the only regional parliament where they have never achieved representation and now they aspire to enter with a deputy that no survey values. The cut of 5% of the vote makes that task very difficult for Santiago Abascal. And the fact that the community is less exposed to the national political agenda and even to the most media debates, allows the electoral campaign to be isolated, they say in the PP.
The fear continues to be demobilization. Although the BNG shows strength and indisputable growth, so far the PSOE of Galicia is completely out of the game. And the impossibility of recovering makes the turnaround very complicated. The socialists have seized on Feijóo’s “mistake,” in the words of popular leaders, to try to turn it around. But Galician leaders, and also in Genoa, affirm that this phenomenon is almost impossible in the remaining five days.
The last week of the campaign is the one that really counts. This was clearly seen yesterday, at Feijóo’s last rally in Marín (Pontevedra), where the popular leader gave a twist to his speech, toughening it up and openly asking his people to avoid “the noise” and row. “They have gone so far as to say that I agree with amnesties and pardons because by saying all this perhaps they make someone doubt our honesty and honorability, and what we have done all this time, which is defend the rule of law,” he asserted. It was what his ranks needed to hear in so much hesitation.
For this reason, after what happened, the management has taken control, avoiding meeting the steering committee on Monday or holding press conferences that could become a monograph on Puigdemont’s pardons. “To take action, to focus on Galicia and what is important,” they say now, also focusing on what Feijóo has visited Barbate after two civil guards were hit by a drug boat and died instantly.
A reality, that of the countryside of Gibraltar, which has made its citizens explode. The leader of the PP wanted to attend a minute of silence on Monday and then launched his proposals to once and for all put an end to the profound shortcomings that the Security Forces and Corps have to combat drug trafficking. Among these proposals is that the National Court, which has “means and resources”, he stated, is the one to deal with complex investigations as it already does with organized crime or terrorism. This Tuesday Feijóo will spend a whole day in Galicia with several rallies and has no agenda in Madrid.
The 18F elections They were already crucial for the PP. And now, if possible, have become something more. The party recognizes, especially after the last few days, that it is essential to revalidate the absolute majority and for Alfonso Rueda to continue in the Xunta. The truth is that despite the nervousness unleashed, the public support of the most important leaders for Feijóo has been total. Isabel Díaz Ayuso did not skimp on giving him support, and so does the president of the Andalusian Junta, Juan Manuel Moreno.
What they do not deny in the party is that breath will remain held until Sunday. It is the day on which Feijóo’s opposition work and the strategy deployed were going to be put to the test. With the latest controversy, what now seems to pass an exam is already his leadership. Some leaders fear, beyond the fact that the Xunta is not lost, a crisis of credibility for the Galician leader, who until now was, at least internally, his great political asset.