Feijóo's worrying failure with Vox
When the PP was on the verge of winning the Moncloa elections in July 2023, Alberto Núñez Feijóo's party had at least one reason for hope: they had pushed Vox back a total of 19 seats—from 52 to 33. This led them to believe that over the course of the legislative period, they could erode the far-right party by convincing their electorate that only concentrating their votes on the PP could guarantee Pedro Sánchez's defeat in the future.
Almost two years later, it can now be said that the strategy has failed miserably. Vox has not only not lost ground during this time, but has even strengthened in the polls, now holding around 40 seats. And not only that. Vox has managed to influence the PP's discourse, dragging it into its climate change denial, immigration criminalization, and even Eurosceptic positions, as evidenced by the content of this week's pact between Carlos Mazón and Vox, which was approved by Génova.
The result of this failure by Feijóo is especially worrying because it paints a picture of a PP without clear ideological principles and willing to change them to gain power. And this is despite the fact that Feijóo's figure had initially been marketed as the PP's return to centrality after the Pablo Casado era, and even with an autonomist and anti-centralist tone. But not even in this has Feijóo been able to maintain his position. The Valencian budget cuts aid to the Valencian language, historical memory, environmental protection, and culture in general. It is significant that, despite having the most expansive accounts in history, the Valencian government is reducing its contribution to museums like the IVAM and, in return, increasing the funds allocated to bullfighting.
There is now no doubt that if the PP ever comes to power, it will do so hand in hand with Vox and having bought into all of its mental frameworks, to the point that they are now inseparable from each other. After all, in his attempt to strike a balance between the two souls of the party, what Feijóo will have done is surrender to the Aznar-Ayuso duo and distance himself from the centrist strategy of others. men like the Andalusian Juanma Moreno Bonilla. Thus, the Galician politician will have demonstrated that he lacks the stature or internal power to impose a specific line on the party, which explains his constant sudden changes of direction.
With the Valencian agreement, moreover, Feijóo becomes a hostage not only to Vox, but also to Carlos Mazón, who is currently a dead weight that threatens to sink the entire party. The statement by former Interior Minister Salomé Pradas on April 11 will be key to the future of Mazón, but also of Feijóo, who may be even more exposed for having covered for the Valencian president. Meanwhile, Vox will continue to set the political debate and agenda within the right-wing sphere and, consequently, rise in the polls.
