Sánchez's number two's different style that disconcerts the PP

Madrid"Do you intend to answer any questions?". This is the question that the PP spokesperson, Ester Muñoz, registered this week in the control session of Congress to address the Minister of Economy, Carlos Cuerpo. A question, without explicit content, which highlights the desperation in the popular ranks with the style of Pedro Sánchez's number two. Unlike the now former vice-president María Jesús Montero, now in Andalusia, who was much more visceral and confronted Alberto Núñez Feijóo's party face-to-face, the new Spanish vice-president employs a strategy of moderation and pause that disconcerts her counterpart in the PP. If Ester Muñoz talks to him about corruption cases, Carlos Cuerpo responds with positive macroeconomic data. If Muñoz reproaches him for PSOE leaders attributing corruption investigations to a political operation, Carlos Cuerpo simply says he respects justice.

One only needs to recall the body language of the PP's number two when she spoke this week in the Spanish lower house, where she made evident her discomfort with the evasions – she interprets – of the Minister of Economy. Cuerpo's response was: "I am answering the question you have registered in Congress, which is whether I intend to answer any questions. And the answer is yes, I will answer as best I can," he replied, while laughter escaped from the socialist bench. "That's how it is," they point out from Cuerpo's circle. "He is an independent technician," they say, and recall that he is not a PSOE militant, despite identifying with the social democratic project.

In fact, the day he debuted in the Senate as vice president, he already showed his mettle: while the PP spokesperson, Alicia García, sought a head-on confrontation with him, in a tense tone, questioning him about the Spanish government's corruption; Cuerpo responded with a calm tone, stating that he would continue working for Spain's "international leadership." "I expect your collaboration [...]. I extend my hand, you will find me whenever you wish," he said.

The antithesis of Puente

Cuerpo's strategy involves avoiding confrontation. This is a very different approach from that taken by other government members, mainly Óscar Puente – who has said that an operation is underway to bring down the Spanish government – or even the Spanish president himself, Pedro Sánchez, who also responds belligerently to Alberto Núñez Feijóo. "He is the worst opposition leader in history," he told him this Wednesday.

From Cuerpo's circle, they claim his own style and maintain that he has kept the same tone since the beginning of the legislature. His formula is to stick to the most sectoral issues to counter the PP's agenda, which is to link him to the government's alleged corruption. For this reason, he usually reproaches the Popular Party that it was not until he reached the vice-presidency of the government that they began to submit questions to his ministry, reproaching them that they are not actually interested in the economy's progress. So far, they have not wanted to play his game, interpret sources close to Cuerpo, because the data is good: "We will grow three times as much as the rest of the European Union countries, we have created 500,000 jobs...".

Cuerpo's profile allows Pedro Sánchez to maintain a good relationship with the business world, which in Madrid has often expressed displeasure with fiscal and especially housing policies. Sources close to the vice-president cite the "internationalization" and "support" he has provided to businessmen on international trips as an example. Since taking office as number two, he has traveled to the United States, Canada, and Mexico with the aim of "supporting" the business world and seeking opportunities abroad. Indeed, when he was appointed, the most common interpretation was that Sánchez was seeking to strengthen the government's more technical profile in the face of a political and judicial storm that has overwhelmed Moncloa.