The Catalan PP opted for a government alone, without having to agree with Vox, of its national leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, in the event of victory in the next general elections, even if it described as “absolutely self-righteous and hypocritical” to criticize the party of Santiago Abascal “for its belonging to the extreme right”.
This was defended by the spokesperson for the PP in Parliament, Juan Fernández, in an interview with the Catalan Press Agency (ACN). “We put a lot of emphasis on Vox and not on the fact that Pedro Sánchez currently governs with far-left parties,” he criticized.
Fernández guaranteed that the PP would go to the elections with the “ambition” to govern alone and expressed confidence that it would have the necessary support to achieve this. However, he did not close the door to concluding agreements with other parties to be able to govern, and regretted that Vox was criticized for being “a far-right party”.
Faced with Vox’s distancing of other regional leaders of the PP, such as María Guardiola of Extremadura, in the midst of the electoral campaign for the elections of December 21, the Catalan PP has sometimes radicalized its discourse in the face of competition from the far right. Last summer, for example, Fernández spoke in favor of vetoing Islamic events in Jumilla.
“I don’t think it is the role of political parties to criticize the positions of others depending on whether they are far right, far right or ultra left. I think it is completely self-righteous that the focus is continually on Vox and not on other parties, like Comuns or Sumar, which are far left and govern Spain,” he said.
In Catalan, the spokesperson denied that his party felt threatened by the postulates of Vox in Parliament and assured that the Catalan PP “does not buy his speech or that of anyone”, and that it is he who plays the role of leader of the opposition. “We have our political project and we do not get lost in the sterile and nostalgic debates of the independence and socialist parties,” he stressed.
The popular leader insisted that Spain is experiencing a situation of “national emergency” due to the corruption cases that “surround” the executive, and predicted that Junts could pay at the polls for having “supported” Sánchez in Moncloa.
Regarding relations with Junts, Fernández reiterated that his party “has no problem” in reaching specific agreements with that of Puigdemont in the Congress of Deputies or in Parliament, but that a “voting coincidence” is different from “pacts, conversations and agreements.”
In line with the message launched by Feijóo from the headquarters of the Catalan employers’ association Foment, Fernández urged Junts and Vox to support a motion of censure aimed at ousting Sánchez de la Moncloa. “We call on everyone who wants change to support us in changing the president,” he said.
The PP, warned Fernández, will not submit to “any blackmail” from Junts in exchange for obtaining its support for a motion of censure. And he predicts that not supporting him could have harmful consequences for Junts: “Obviously, because the current situation in the whole country negatively affects Catalonia. The socialists use Catalonia as a bargaining chip and it is the citizens who pay the consequences.”
About the congress that the Catalan PP was supposed to organize in 2022 and which was postponed sine die, The parliamentary spokesperson assured that “it is not on the agenda” of the popular party to celebrate it, because he considers it “frivolous” to do so “in the middle of the political crisis”.
The Popular Catalans held their last congress in 2018, when Alejandro Fernández (who is not always in perfect harmony with Feijóo) was elected party leader with wide support. In 2022, the conclave was due to be reconvened, but national leaders decided to postpone it before the general elections were called the following year.
About The Author
