The leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, in a party act in the City of the Racket, on May 23, in Madrid.Diego Radamés (Europa Press)
For the leadership of the PP of Alberto Núñez Feijóo any pact with Vox is uncomfortable, but there is one, above all, that can become a headache after May 28. This is the possible agreement with the extreme right in the Valencian Community, necessary according to all the polls so that the popular can dislodge the socialist Ximo Puig from power – the 40dB poll. for EL PAÍS attributes to Vox 14 to 15 decisive seats so that the PP, with between 33 to 35, can reach the absolute majority, which is at 50―. The problem with this alliance is that it poses a specific dilemma to the PP, because the Vox candidate for the presidency of the Generalitat Valenciana, Carlos Flores Juberías, 58, is convicted in a 2002 sentence for sexist violence to his ex-wife. The PP, according to sources of both the national and Valencian leadership, faces this crossroads with concern, without anyone having defined as a red line that can become vice president of the Valencian Government. But the concern is clear. "It's more than a toad," they confess in the PP.
Flores Juberías, who is also a professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Valencia, was sentenced to one year in prison for a "crime of habitual psychic violence and 21 faults of coercion, insults and humiliation" against his ex-partner, to which he caused "a psychological breakdown", according to the sentence of the Provincial Court of Valencia of 2002, which upheld the ruling of a criminal court. At that time, the crime had not yet been classified as sexist violence, as was done two years later. The fifth section of the Court also decreed a disqualification of one year to be elected by passive suffrage, the prohibition of approaching his ex-wife for three years and compensation for civil liability of 6,000 euros.
The courts considered proven that the Vox candidate persecuted his ex-partner between 2000 and 2001 up to 21 times, uttering insults, humiliation and threats both at home and in the children's school and on the street, according to the sentence. The ruling reflects that the defendant went seven times in a month and a half to the street of the home of the ex-wife, with whom he had divorced in 1999, and under his balcony he shouted qualifiers such as "thief, kidnapper of children, owner of dungeon, whore".
"I have a clear conscience," said the leader of Vox in an interview in EL PAÍS. "I have made mistakes in my life, but if at 58 years old one can say that the most serious thing is to use risqué words in a moment of conflict a quarter of a century ago, we are not going badly at all." The far-right candidate also claims to be "100% identified" with his party on gender violence, which he avoids defining as such. "Violence against women is a social scourge, as condemnable as violence against any other social sector. Gender ideology is not a measure to protect women, it is an ideological structure for certain conflict situations," she says.
The head of the list of Vox in the Valencian Community was also part, with 18 years, of the list for Valencia of the far-right party Fuerza Nueva, led by Blas Piñar, as published by the BOE of October 2, 1982.
The PP faces with concern the possible pact with this ultra leader in the Valencian Community before the risk that the party of Santiago Abascal imposes him as vice president of a Government chaired by Carlos Mazón, in case the right adds the 28-M. "The Vox candidate is not that he is a toad, is that it is more than a toad, "recognize sources of the Valencian PP.
The concern is extensive in the national leadership of the PP, where they admit that it will be a difficult problem to manage and some sources find it "reasonable" to propose that this candidate renounce to enter a hypothetical Government. But everything will depend on the result. In general, the leadership of the PP is aware that only a wide distance between PP and Vox will allow them to try to circumvent government agreements with the extreme right. "It will depend on the distance we take with respect to Vox and the PSOE. If we have a lot of distance, maybe we can think about presenting ourselves to an investiture without agreeing anything with Vox, but if there is not... That is why the result of May 28 is very important, "say sources of the national leadership.
The Valencian PP has not defined as a red line that the headliner is a convicted of sexist violence. The popular candidate, Carlos Mazón, aspires to govern alone, but recognizes that "if there is no parliamentary majority to govern alone," he will have to look for other options, including Vox. "We will talk to everyone to seek as much stability as possible. Daily dialogue must be a constant. We have to start getting used to talking to everyone about measures that are beneficial for everyone, "he defended in an interview in EL PAÍS.
The agreements with Vox are the main risk for the PP the day after May 28. Some leaders of the dome maintain that "Vox no longer gives any fear to Spanish society", but in general in the PP they are aware that the left can take advantage of these pacts to water them down a possible electoral victory. Feijóo will avoid staining as much as possible, but the popular leadership is preparing for Vox to ask for a negotiation in a national key, so the PP leader will have difficulty circumventing the dilemma.
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