The last visit of Alberto Núñez Feijóo to Catalonia coincided with the biweekly control session in the Parliament. But despite this, the president of the Catalan PP, Alejandro Fernandezwent to the Palace Hotel in Barcelona to greet the leader of his party at the beginning of his conference at the Forum Europe Tribune Catalunya. They posed before starting the event, but Fernández did not sit at the presidential table and, when the tricky questions for Feijóo and the statements of disagreement began, he was already on the bench of the Catalan Chamber.
So he didn’t have to listen when they asked Feijóo about the postponed internal congress or if Dolors Montserrat She would be a good candidate to lead the management in Catalonia. And it will also remain a mystery what her reaction would have been when she saw that Feijóo was talking about him again. “normalize” relations with Junts -although he made it clear that it was from the “discrepancy”-, nor when he recognized “indirect” contacts with the former president Carles Puigdemontwhom he said he “respected” and praised for not lying.
A few hours later, through social networks, Fernández wanted to make his position clear. She did it with a somewhat cryptic message, but one that showed her disavowal of Feijóo’s strategy in Catalonia. The umpteenth. He had already done so when he aired his refusal to run as a candidate for Congress, when he thwarted Feijóo’s intention to meet with Junts to negotiate his investiture – which was unsuccessful – or when he organized a conference in Barcelona to notify Génova that he was leading the party. without “guardians”. “I suppose there is something true in that “the face is the mirror of the soul…”, he noted on the social network, with a photograph in which he appears with Feijóo and Montilla.
I suppose there is something true in that “the face is the mirror of the soul”… pic.twitter.com/tTOvZv3gIp
— Alejandro Fernández (@alejandroTGN) October 25, 2023
A new public disqualification that has once again raised blisters within the party, after a few days in which the waters seemed calmer. In Genoa, of course, but Fenández’s reaction has also greatly bothered the Catalan PP officials closest to Feijóo. “You are pulling the rope too tight“, warns one of the leaders consulted by EL PERIÓDICO, who regrets that the party is always in the news due to disagreements and accuses Fernández of only thinking about “saving his position” and “winning the congress.”
“Cold War”
The question is whether the rope is tight enough for Feijóo to decide to take the step and set a date for the Catalan congress. The different sources consulted recognize that the positions are already irreconcilable, but they doubt that the resolution of the conflict will be immediate. “It’s a cold war,” adds another leader, who assures that – at least for now – it is unknown what the final result will be.
For the moment, those closest to Feijóo attribute the delay in convening the congress to the fact that, in the midst of the negotiations for the investiture of Pedro Sánchez and in the face of a possible electoral repetition, the PP has “more important” problems to resolve and they believe that there is no rush because the next Catalan elections are not scheduled until February 2025. “When Feijóo wants, Alejandro will fall“, they add from this part.
To do so, Genoa could set a date for the congress and promote a candidate it likes, as it has done in the Basque Country. Although there, Feijóo has managed to avoid some primaries with more than one list, something that in Catalonia, at least for the moment, seems more difficult. Mainly, because Fernández is not willing to throw in the towel and it is practically assumed that he will entrust himself to the bases – and the hardest wing of the party – and present his candidacy to be re-elected.
Double talk
His campaign is already clear: he will delve into the moderation that Feijóo exhibits in his visits to Catalonia, and will delve into the contradictions and double discourses of the popular leader, depending on whether his audience is Barcelona or Madrid. Critics of the current leader of the PP see it as incoherent to organize an event against the amnesty or to send all the party’s artillery to the Catalan capital to demonstrate with the Societat Civil Catalana (SCC) – and be cheered by the public with cries of “Puigdemont to prison”-; but then lower the tone against this measure of grace and talk about normalizing relations with the leader of Junts.
It would also be possible that Feijóo chose to put a manager to avoid a congress with several lists. However, this could further unleash the internal battle and increase Fernández’s desire for revenge. And it is also not clear who would be chosen to lead the party. In recent months, several names have been considered like that of Daniel Sirera, Manuel Reyes or Dolors Montseratbut, at least for now, neither Feijóo has indicated what his bet is nor have they officially positioned themselves.