One of the main problems of Alberto Núñez Feijóo is that, on the one hand, he lacks charisma, and on the other, almost no one recognizes his leadership. His political failure on July 23rd, when, despite taking the People’s Party (PP) to victory in the Spanish general election with 137 deputies versus the 121 of Pedro Sánchez’s Socialists (PSOE), he did not end up in a position to assemble a majority of 176 deputies, has clearly left him to weather the political storm. The Basque Nationalists (PNV) are resisting him tooth and nail, with their eyes fixed on the next autonomous elections, due in 2024, when they will need the Basque Socialists to support them rather than changing horses to EH Bildu. And as for Together for Catalonia (Junts) and the seven deputies it has, Feijóo can’t count on them, since so far there is nothing other than some contact from very distant standpoints. Nothing that, at the present time, could even minimally unsettle the PSOE.
Feijóo is aware of this and now finds himself having to put out some of the fires that the PP itself lit. But, of course, if he wants to attempt the investiture that the king has put in his hands, he will at least have to talk to Junts. This Sunday, using the platform of Madrid daily El Mundo, he made a weak attempt to reach out to Puigdemont, indicating that he is ready to listen to his demands and proposals. In this approach, which was a Version 2.0 of José María Aznar’s 1996 declaration that he even spoke Catalan in private, Feijóo took a conciliatory line. “I am not a political and ideological rival of Junts,” Feijóo said.
