There is a truce and a new stage PP-Vox. Santiago Abascal transferred to the King his “willingness” to support the investiture of Alberto Núñez Feijóo, although he has “conditioned it” to the fact that the PP “does not collaborate in any way, neither by action nor by omission, in the sanitary cordon that is intended to be lifted”. against his party. A few hours after raising four specific demands in relation to that, compliance came from the leader popular, who made a public gesture of recognition to this party during an appearance. Hence Vox, a few minutes later, celebrated this change in discourse and declared a “new stage of collaboration” with the PP open.
This twist in the script was fostered by movements on both sides on a crucial day for the PP to claim the investiture in the round of contacts with the King and defend Felipe VI who, for now, has a greater number of votes than Pedro Sanchez. It was when they left Zarzuela, regarding their respective appearances in Congress on account of their meetings with the head of state, when Abascal and Feijóo staged that truce and that new rapprochement.
This was barely 24 hours after Vox sowed great doubts on Monday about what position it would adopt in the face of a hypothetical attempt by the candidate popular. However, when push comes to shove, Abascal has been decisive in laying the foundations for Feijóo to appear before the King with 172 votes, four away from reaching an absolute majority. There are many more supports than Sánchez was able to wield before in front of Felipe VI, since he still has a long way to go to guarantee the pro-independence parties, especially Junts and ERC, whose votes are essential.
It is precisely this ability to “blackmail” Sánchez and the “so serious threats” that they pose to “unity and coexistence” that justified Abascal to approach the PP again, after last week the relationship between both forces, once the popular They declined to support Vox’s entry into the Congress Table. The consequence of that was that this party was left out of the body of the Chamber and that it lost the chair it had in the last legislature, but also that Vox refused to vote for the PP candidates. It was a breakout image.
That is why Vox had fueled the uncertainty these days ago about what he was going to tell the King. And, for this reason, Abascal outlined his move by establishing some conditions for Feijóo to try to short-circuit the possibility that this distance from Vox is now Genoa’s new strategy to interact with them. Which would leave them completely isolated on the Spanish political scene, taking away their ability to influence and, in the eyes of the voters, their usefulness being questioned.