The president of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has taken advantage of the rejection in Congress of the two housing decrees of the Government to redouble his request for general elections and place the housing crisis at the center of his political discourse. From the La Toja-Vínculo Atlántico Forum, the leader of the opposition has demanded that Pedro Sánchez stop openly raising the possibility of early elections and make the decision to go to the polls.
Feijóo's intervention comes a day after Congress struck down the two royal decrees promoted by the Executive to respond to the housing crisis, a parliamentary defeat that coincided with a new day of mobilizations in Madrid and other Spanish cities. In the capital, four columns called by the Tenants' Union converged in Cibeles under the slogan "Towards the general strike." The Government Delegation has estimated the participation at around 70,000 people, while the organizing body has raised it to 500,000.
In this scenario, Feijóo has placed housing as one of the main arguments for demanding a change of Government. The president of the PP has defended that the problem must be addressed by an increase in supply and has announced that, if he reaches La Moncloa, he will present his proposal to social agents, parties and the sector before approving it during his first month in Government.
Feijóo demands Sánchez call elections
The electoral request appeared even before his intervention formally began. Upon his arrival at the forum, and before journalists could ask him about the reflection Sánchez is carrying out after the parliamentary setback, Feijóo responded with an ironic "I say yes," in allusion to the possibility of the president calling elections.
Afterwards, the leader of the PP has made that position one of the main axes of his speech. Feijóo has maintained that Spain is going through the final stages of a legislature that, in his opinion, should not have happened and has accused Sánchez of prolonging "an agony to which he is dragging an entire country."
"There is only one way out, for citizens to speak as soon as possible. President Sánchez should not threaten to call Spaniards to the polls anymore. He should do it. Spain has the right to decide now," he stated.
The popular leader has insisted that his request does not respond, in his own words, to "revanchism," but to the political situation the country is going through. "I don't ask for elections out of revanchism, I ask for them because my country can't take it anymore," he said during his speech.
Feijóo's demand comes as Sánchez keeps open the possibility of an early election, but without an immediate call. According to Executive sources consulted by 'ElConstitucional.es', the president is "calm" and plans to dedicate this weekend to a "period of reflection" and listening with coalition partners and parliamentary forces that support the legislature. The possibility of an early election will be addressed in those conversations, but there is no fixed date for now.
Housing, at the center of the offensive
Feijóo has precisely used the parliamentary defeat of these measures to present housing as one of the main examples of what he considers poor management by the Executive. During his speech, he stated that housing is the "symbol of failure" of the Sánchez Government.
The president of the PP has contrasted the rejected decrees with his own proposal based, as he explained, on increasing housing construction. He has argued that the problem of access to housing is related to the lack of supply and has criticized the measures adopted by the Executive in recent years.
"The housing market is broken," Feijóo assured, attributing eight years of inaction to the Government and defending the need to increase the number of available homes. He also questioned whether the response to the crisis lies in the two royal decrees.
His commitment, he explained, is to present his plan to social agents, political parties, and the sector to gather their contributions before taking it to the Council of Ministers. The promise he has made is that this proposal would be approved during the first month of an eventual PP Government.
Criticism of the Government's response after parliamentary failure
Feijóo has also criticized the Executive's reaction after the rejection of the decrees. The leader of the PP has accused Sánchez of seeking political confrontation and promoting "the agitated street" after failing to pass his measures in Congress.
In his opinion, the Government intends to "encourage chaos and try to mobilize its side of the wall over the ashes of the country." "They want to cover up their eight years of government incompetence with aggression against the opposition," he added.
The popular leader has defended that the parliamentary rejection of the decrees is part of the functioning of the Cortes and has criticized that the Executive points to those who voted against the initiatives. In this sense, he has considered that Spain does not deserve a Government that intends to do business with the confrontation between citizens.
Feijóo has taken advantage of this situation to claim an alternative model that he defines as "reformist" against the one he attributes to the socialist Executive, which he describes as "populist." His proposal, as he explained, involves rebuilding the economy and focusing political action on citizen care.
Promises a legislature with budgets and defends the judiciary
During his speech, the leader of the PP also advanced commitments for an eventual arrival at La Moncloa. Among them, he has placed the need to prevent a legislature from being prolonged for years without approving new General State Budgets.
Feijóo has assured that he will seek a legal formula that obliges the dissolution of the Cortes if, after a first extension of the public accounts, a new budget is not approved. With this proposal, he intends to prevent, as he explained, an Executive from remaining for a complete legislature without bringing forward new accounts.
He has also guaranteed that a Government presided over by him would not "intimidate" the judiciary and has vindicated the separation of powers as one of the elements of the institutional regeneration he proposes.
The popular leader has also accused the Executive of having converted institutions into instruments of a personal project and has denounced, in his terms, a lack of "democratic hygiene" marked by the absence of new budgets and the repeated recourse to decree-law.
In parallel, Feijóo has again introduced the situation of Ceuta in his speech. The president of the PP has warned that "no electoral maneuver will make us forget that a part of Spain remains occupied more than two months later," thus linking the political crisis opened by housing with the situation that the autonomous city is experiencing.
While Sánchez keeps the decision open for now and seeks to listen to his partners before determining the next steps, Feijóo has publicly set his position: he demands that Spaniards return to the polls as soon as possible and places housing as one of the main issues of his alternative government.
