Feijóo proposes changing the law so that the party that wins the elections has a "plus" of deputies

Barcelona / MadridThe PP's crusade to bring down Pedro Sánchez runs up against the fact that it depends on Catalan and Basque parties for it to have real effects. In this context, Alberto Núñez Feijóo has revived one of those proposals that the Popular Party has in mind to end the dependence on independence movements in the Congress of Deputies and, in turn, also on Vox, to whom they are increasingly tied in more autonomies. The leader of the PP has proposed an electoral reform so that the winning list has a "plus" of deputies "to facilitate stability". A scenario that could have prevented Pedro Sánchez from governing this legislature in which the sum of PP and Vox fell just four deputies short of an absolute majority. This is what Feijóo defended in an interview this Monday on EsRadio, after being directly asked about ways to prevent "minority groups from having overrepresentation" in the lower house.

The idea was already expressed in 2018 by Feijóo's predecessor and he himself defended it before the Spanish elections of 2023. Pablo Casado proposed granting 50 extra seats to the party that obtained the most in the Spanish elections, mirroring the Greek model. If it had been applied in the 2023 elections, the PP would have added 187 seats (137 + 50) and would have been 13 short of an absolute majority, which would have become 200 seats. Adding Vox's 33 seats, Feijóo could have been invested as president. The specific formula that the current PP leader is betting on is not defined, according to sources from the popular leadership, who explain that they are still working on it.

In the same vein, Feijóo has proposed modifying the legislation so that the candidates of the most voted list in the municipal elections directly become mayors —currently they already are if there is no alternative majority—, in order not to have to "always be looking for an absolute majority to be able to govern". It should be taken into account, in any case, that to reform the electoral law an absolute majority is required, which the PP does not currently hold, and that some of Feijóo's proposals could clash with the Constitution, which defines the "proportionality" that the electoral system must maintain in the State, always based on provinces.

Doubts about the census

In parallel, Feijóo has accused Sánchez of carrying out "electoral engineering" to "survive" in La Moncloa, with an argument similar to that of the extreme right. In this regard, he has railed against the so-called "ley de nets" (law of cleans), a provision of the democratic memory law that opens the door to the naturalization of descendants of exiles during Francoism, as well as other people with ties to the Spanish state. "We all have enough experience to conclude that nothing is out of naivety: there is electoral engineering, which consists of increasing by 2.5 million the number of people eligible to vote in one year or a year and a half," he said, fueling ultra theories of electoral fraud. Feijóo has denounced that Buenos Aires, the Argentine capital, will become "one of the great Spanish cities" and has reiterated that the objective is "to gain new voters".

Just as Vox did last week, the PP questions the "procedures" for granting nationality in countries like Cuba, although they also admit that it cannot be taken for granted that these new voters, if they decide to exercise their right to vote, may opt for conservative parties and not socialists. "Since [Sánchez] can't make the numbers add up, let's see if he can make them add up by manufacturing voters," said Feijóo, also ignoring that his proposal for electoral law reform is precisely aimed at guaranteeing a majority when enough deputies are not won. The Madrid president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, also joined him. In an informative meeting, she warned that any civil servant who "grants nationality to someone who does not deserve it – through the law of the clean ones – must know that they will also be doing something illegal." Feijóo's insinuations have provoked criticism from La Moncloa and other parties in the plurinational majority, such as ERC, which has accused him of being "trumpist" for fueling doubts about the outcome of the upcoming elections.

Junts insists on the "Starmer route"

On the other hand, Junts continues to insist on its demand for Sánchez to step aside. Junts spokesperson, Míriam Nogueras, claimed in an interview on TV3 the "Starmer way", referring to the resigned British prime minister, and made it clear that the Junts members will not propose who should replace the PSOE leader as president. "We don't care who it is," she assured, adding that "whoever comes must be someone who complies" with Catalonia. Nogueras expressed surprise that her party is the only one defending this proposal and denied having had contact with the PP to bring down the Spanish government. PP spokesperson, Borja Sémper, made it clear at a press conference that they are not considering making any gestures related to the amnesty. "Everything we have said in the past remains valid," he stated regarding initiatives such as the appeal to the Constitutional Court against the law.