The PP does not trust Guardiola and will supervise her in negotiations with Vox.

MadridVox has turned María Guardiola into an instrument to wear down the PP in the hidden electoral race between Santiago Abascal and Alberto Núñez FeijóoFaced with the possibility that the negotiations between the Popular Party leader and the far-right party in Extremadura could definitively stall, leading to a repeat election that could leave the PP in an even weaker position, the PP's national leadership has opted to become directly involved in the talks. As announced this Monday, representatives from Feijóo's team will participate in the negotiations with Vox alongside Guardiola, thus demonstrating their lack of confidence in the Extremadura PP leader's ability to overcome the poor relationship she has had with Santiago Abascal's party since 2023, a relationship that has already caused... Genoa publicly disavowed her a week ago

The move from Genoa implies an unprecedented level of oversight by Feijóo over a regional leader, which will also extend to Jorge Azcón in Aragon. The PP does not rule out extending this oversight to Alfonso Fernández Mañueco in Castile and León if, after the March 15 elections, his dependence on the far right is also confirmed. Therefore, the PP executive will be present at the talks with Abascal's party in all the autonomous communities where they are currently underway. Party sources justify this by the need to establish a "national framework" for the negotiations, given that they had detected that Vox was proposing an "asymmetrical relationship" in each region.

As ARA explained this Sunday, the far-right party's strategy involves giving Azcón more leeway than Guardiola and even agreeing not to hold any ministerial positions within the Aragonese government. Regarding the Extremaduran president—whom they claim to distrust—the plan involves forcing her to face another election or to become a president under surveillance by compelling her to accept a coalition. To try to avoid these differences "in similar contexts," the same PP sources justify having made this move by decreeing this "support" for Guardiola and Azcón from the party leadership.

The move implies that Feijóo is distancing himself even further from the carte blanche policy he pursued for regional leaders in 2023 when they negotiated Vox's then-unprecedented entry into regional governments. The party acknowledges, in fact, that the pact in the Valencian Community with the far right—negotiated in parallel with Feijóo's general election campaign—had a negative impact on the results across the country. The party leadership in Madrid now wants to prevent regional pacts from becoming another liability for the party president on the eve of the Castile and León regional campaign and with the Andalusian elections in June on the horizon.

"We will work to make an agreement possible," stated PP Deputy Secretary Cuca Gamarra, who maintains that this is "the fastest way" to guarantee the investitures. Vox, which has detected "nervousness" within the PP, responded to the change in the negotiating table by proclaiming its willingness to "break the climate of distrust" that had existed until now with the PP by restarting talks. Vox Secretary General Ignacio Garriga also stated at a press conference that he has informed the negotiating teams that, from now on, there will be a "new framework" consisting of two phases. The first, which will last "as long as necessary," will be focused on reaching a "detailed agreement" on the "ideas and the government plan," and only then, in a second phase, will positions be discussed. "We will act responsibly," said Garriga.

Now, what will happen if Vox demands different things at each negotiating table? Genoa, which is in the greatest hurry to finalize the agreements, avoids revealing any details, but argues that it wouldn't make sense for what works for Abascal's party in Aragon not to work in Extremadura. "Now there isn't one relationship between Vox and Azcón and another with Guardiola, but rather a relationship between Vox and the PP," argue sources within the PP leadership, which faces its first test on March 3rd when the Extremaduran leader will undergo her first investiture vote, in the midst of the election campaign in Castile and León.