His tenure at the general secretariat left wounds in all territories that made it very difficult for him to continue in the party | “He has sought his life and has left when he has been able. He has taken a year. His discrepancy is not political, but vital. He defended another party model”, settle different leaders
In recent months, the usual thing was to see him running through the corridors of Congress. He was late to vote or had to run when he finished. Teodoro Garcia Egea (former general secretary of the PP, 38 years old) knew for some time that he was going to renounce the act of deputy. He told Alberto Núñez Feijóo and other colleagues from the parliamentary group with the only question of when to do itwhether now or after the May elections.
He was concerned about the incompatibility of his current job in the technology sector with the obligation to be in the plenary votes. Next week, without going any further, he will travel to London for several days. In Congress, at the same time, the motion of censure of Ramón Tamames will be debated, which he should have attended no matter what.
“In life you have to choose& rdquor ;, he said this Thursday when he announced his departure. He has already had to choose other times within the PP. He did it by putting beside Pablo Casado in the primaries after Mariano Rajoy left Moncloa. And he stayed by his side until the party took the baton from them in the most stark internal crisis on record within the party. “He has sought his life and when he has made it clear he has left. It is the culmination of a logical and natural process. There was no space in the future here inside & rdquor ;, leaders of the current leadership agree.
The question that some leaders ask is why he didn’t leave sooner. And the answer found by others is unanimous: “He’s gone when he really could. You already have your path made. The book, his business, his travels. Her head was already out. She only came to vote. It is a delayed march. When she has been able to leave, she has done it & rdquor ;, they finish off.
In the PP they avoid doing “political readings & rdquor; of his resignation, although no one escapes what the end of ‘casadismo’ in the parliamentary group. His most faithful deputy, Pablo Montesinos, left with the previous leader. The rest of the leadership —the same one that forced the resignation of its leader just before the night of the long knives with the territorial barons in which everything ended— was reconverted with the arrival of Feijóo, even forming part of the new address. This is the case of Cuca Gamarra, today the general secretary, and other leaders who remain as spokespersons.
When the Galician leader came to the national presidency there was concern about the possibility that García Egea “would continue messing around & rdquor;. The threat did not take long to dissipate. There was no choice. In Genoa they affirm that at this time “they have never asked him for the minutes & rdquor ;. They have not told him to leave either. And, in fact, a few months ago they assigned him the presidency of the Road Safety commission in the Chamber, which implies a bonus in his monthly salary. But the one who was number two of Casado it was not easy to stay inside the party.
Iron hand, open wounds
García Egea was not only Casado’s right hand. His time at the general secretariat left open wounds in all territories for his efforts to renovate territorial structures and pass the roller in many of them. “His forms & rdquor; They generated very strong tensions in different communities and with some regional presidents, who continuously raised the level of complaint to Casado and other members of the leadership. The national leader defended him or dodged the bulge.
“How do you rehabilitate a person who waged so many internal wars?& rdquor ;, asks a current weight leader. “That was very difficult & rdquor ;, they settle. García Egea knew that the future did not mean simply staying on the seat and it was not what he wanted either. “You have to know how to leave & rdquor ;, he told those he still considers his friends. Casado’s fall was not that of the leader. It was that of his entire project of which the general secretary was an essential part and that does not have much to do with Feijóo’s approach.
His resignation coincides in time with two moments: almost a year after the dismissal of his boss and the debate on the motion of censure, the second, by Vox. In the first, Casado and Egea decided to vote against: the candidate was Santiago Abascal and he was a turbulent moment of dispute in the leadership of the right. In this, the new head of the PP has decided to abstain with a very different strategy.
“Vital Discrepancy”
Two scenarios that within the party see “incomparable & rdquor;, insisting that Egea “is not leaving because he has disagreements with the current leadership & rdquor; in political or parliamentary matters. “Your discrepancy is vital. We are talking about everything, not about something specific. He defended another party model & rdquor ;, maintains a member of the group in Congress. The idea of renewal, of changing the first swords and the candidates, the territorial leaders and, above all, somehow break with what the PP of the past represented it was part of Casado’s DNA.
Something that they have seen “amended & rdquor; completely at present. And they give the example of the photo of Valencia with Feijóo surrounded by Rajoy and Aznar who value so much in the current Genoa. The discontent grew when the new leadership “made as if Married had not existed& rdquor ;, says one of his closest people.
The arrival of Feijóo to the PP was accompanied by an attempt to recover the bridges of dialogue with the Government. A few months later they are just as broken as they were with Casado. In the environment of Egea and the former leader also they were suspicious of that “confidence & rdquor; that they had “the new ones & rdquor; in which there would be agreements with Pedro Sanchez. Neither the General Council of the Judiciary was possible, nor anything else than what they came to propose. “We have already seen this film & rdquor ;, they said ironically a few months ago.