The Pp's Strategy to Put Pedro Sánchez in a Bind

PP Has a Plan to Take Moncloa from PSOE. In Génova, They Consider This Battle for Investiture Lost and Believe They Need to Step on the Gas to Call New Elections as Soon as Possible. They Think Shortening the Timeframe Is Key to Putting Pedro Sánchez Against the Ropes.

The First Step of the Plan Is to Get the Assignment from Felipe VI to Form a Government. Feijóo Will Thus Have a Golden Opportunity to Present to All Spaniards His Alternative Government Plan for Spain. He Will Need an Absolute Majority to Be Invested, Something Even the Most Optimistic Populars Do Not Envision.

That's Where the Second Part of the Plan Comes In. PP Wants to Hold the Investiture Debate as Soon as Possible, on Wednesday, August 30. This Will Start the Countdown for the Dissolution of the Cortes (Two Months) and the Call for Elections (47 Days Later).

According to the Plan, Spaniards Will Return to the Polls on December 17, with Barely Any Time for Pedro Sánchez to Forge His Pacts with Nationalists and Independents. Additionally, in Génova, There Is a Sense of Wear in the Right-Wing Block. The More Time Passes, the More Time for Pedro Sánchez to Rearm and More Disillusionment and Demobilization on the Right.

PP Wants New Elections

Although They Deny It Publicly, Among the Populars, the Preference for Electoral Repetition Dominates. The Open Crisis in Vox Would Benefit PP, Which Could Concentrate the Right-Wing Vote and Also Shake Off the Pressure from Abascal's Party. With a Minimized Vox and More Deputies in the Bag, Feijóo Could Try to Convince PNV to Form a Majority.

Additionally, in PP, They Believe That Pedro Sánchez's Flirtation with Carles Puigdemont Would Cost Him in the New Vote. Independentism Could Also Receive Another Setback and Continue Losing Weight. The Most Optimistic Believe That Everything Leads to a Presidency of Alberto Núñez Feijóo, No Matter How Tortuous the Path May Be.

The First Battle Is Played This Thursday, August 17, with the Formation of the Congress Table. If Pedro Sánchez Manages to Attract PNV and Form a Majority on the Table, It Is Likely That the King Will Choose Him to Try to Form a Government. PP's Plan Would Then Be Frustrated and, Once Again, Feijóo Will Have to Follow Suit.

A Long-Distance Race

In PP, There Is a Logical Urgency to Reach Moncloa. But a Sector of the Party Does Not View Unfavorably That Pedro Sánchez Convinces Puigdemont and Is Invested with the Votes of the Most Radical Independentism. They See the Race to the Presidency as a Long-Distance Race in Which Everything Favors Them.

On One Hand, There Is the Recomposition of the Right with the Open Crisis in Vox. In Génova, They Make Calculations, and with a Responsible but Firm Opposition, Feijóo Could Capture at Least Two of the Three Million Vox Voters. Thus, He Would Reach the Next Elections Having Recovered the Monopoly of the Conservative Space.

On the Other Hand, There Is the Wear of PSOE in a Much More Grotesque Government Than the Previous Legislature. It Is Not Ruled Out That Puigdemont Derails the Legislature Before It Ends. Feijóo Would This Time Be the Clear Alternative to "Sanchism" Without Rivals or Obstacles.