Feijóo warns that talk of a referendum in Catalonia is "bait" to make the amnesty seem "something more sensible"

The leader of the PP returns to Galicia a day after his failed investiture and "proud of not being president", because he did not agree to "blackmail"

The leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, participated in the closing of the La Toja-Vínculo Atlántico Forum this Saturday, one day after confirming his failed investiture in the Congress of Deputies, and has issued several warnings about the PSOE's agreements with ERC and Junts so that the acting President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, can revalidate his position.

Feijóo, who has said he is "proud" of not reaching Moncloa "for now", has pointed out how the referendum on which the pro-independence groups are betting as a condition to invest Sánchez is only "bait" - because "it is not on the table", he assured - to conclude that "something more sensible" has been accepted, which would be an amnesty for the leaders of the 'procés'.

This was stated during a presentation on the closing day of the La Toja-Vínculo Atlántico Forum, held on Illa da Toxa, in O Grove (Pontevedra), which was attended as an audience by the former presidents of Spain and Chile, Mariano Rajoy. and Sebastián Piñera; the heads of the governments of Galicia, Castilla-La Mancha and the Canary Islands, Alfonso Rueda, Emiliano García-Page and Fernando Clavijo; and the vice president of the European Commission Margaritis Schinas, among others.

The president of the PP, 24 hours after Congress did not agree to invest him as president - by 172 votes in favor, 177 against and one null from Junts - has reappeared this Saturday "proud" of not having given in to "any blackmail" of the independentists.

"I had fun and I was satisfied," he stressed, because he has fulfilled what he considered "a duty" as "winner of the elections" and as a candidate designated by the king. For this reason, he has claimed "the dignity" of having been "three yeses away" from being President of the Government.

After rejecting the policy "of blocs and blockades", Feijóo has denied that his investiture was a failure because now Spain "knows that it has an alternative government." "Because democracy is not about being able to elect the Government, but also about being able to change the Government," he added.

He stressed that the debate was "an illuminating act" due to "the silence" of the acting president. Although he has not mentioned the controversial intervention of deputy Óscar Puente, Feijóo has contrasted between the "heads that attack" and those that "think."

Thus, he has insisted on the idea that this Saturday he could be speaking as president if he had agreed to what he considers "blackmail." However, "no candidate for the Presidency of the Government can accept conditions that exceed the framework of the Rule of Law."

Those leaders who do so, he stressed, will be "on conditional release." "Not even the Presidency of the Government justifies the means. I am very proud of not being president, for now," he stressed.

RETURN TO THE LA TOJA FORUM

Alberto Núñez Feijóo had not missed any of the four previous editions of the La Toja Forum, the first as head of the Xunta de Galicia, and this year has been no exception.

He had words in memory of former minister Josep Piqué, president of the event, who died last April: "He was a promoter of the dialogue of constitutional Spain, of the Spain of the autonomies."

Just after the round table in which the presidents of Galicia, Castilla-La Mancha and the Canary Islands participated, the opposition leader defended "equality" and the policy that "forgets the insult."

BLAME SÁNCHEZ FOR THE "TIRANT" POLITICAL CLIMATE

Two days before the monarch once again has the round of consultations with the political groups and, predictably, appoints Pedro Sánchez as a candidate, Feijóo has focused on the eventual approval of an amnesty that would leave the institutions that They approved the application of article 155 in Catalonia and that it would mean "maintaining the force" of the declaration of independence pronounced in 2017 by Carles Puigdemont.

Feijóo has also made a reading about the "very tense" political climate in Spain. He has not blamed the independentistas, who now have a "little weight" with 5.5 percent of the total vote in the general elections of 23J, but has pointed directly to Sánchez and the current leadership of the PSOE.

"The fundamental factor that alters democratic stability is the change that occurs in the leadership of the Socialist Party. We cannot blame the independence movement for what it has always defended. Its actions have not changed, what has changed is the response of the Socialist Party to their demands," reflected the opposition leader.

And the Socialist Party, despite having "lost the elections", now "assumes the theses" of the pro-independence parties to continue governing: "It is not coexistence, it is convenience. And it is not an opportunity, it is opportunism."

"A person who asks for his or her irresponsibility to be condoned seems legitimate to me. What is not legitimate is for someone to condone irresponsibility (...) to profit from a personal point of view, which is having the Presidency of the Government," he added. .

A "HYPERSONALIST" LEADERSHIP IN THE PSOE

After regretting the "hyperpersonalist" leadership that, in his view, the PSOE now has, he has used the intervention of the socialist Emiliano García-Page at the table of presidents to slip that Sánchez should "give an account" about whether he is going to amnesty for both the party's Executive Committee and the parliamentary group, "lest they vote against it."

Feijóo has described Sánchez as the "only socialist who leads the current socialist group" and who "is not in tune with his voters" because they have "robbed his voters" of the possibility of deciding on an amnesty.

"THE THINGS OF EATING"

He has also regretted that at the center of the political debate are issues that "are not on the agenda" of the Spanish people when we should be talking about "the Presidency of the Council of the EU", "the migratory crisis" and "things of eating".

Along these lines, Feijóo has warned about the country's economic situation: the economic growth forecasts are "very poor" - 2.2 percent this year -; Inflation has risen "more than 16 percent" since the current Government has been in office; and Spain is the European state with the most unemployment.

For this reason, he regrets that the amnesty is discussed to "not talk about the 47 million citizens who have problems every day they wake up." "And none of these problems are going to be solved with the amnesty," he concluded.

Likewise, the leader of the PP has demanded "equality" between autonomies and a reform of the Senate so that it is a true chamber of territorial representation.

It is about making "the Kingdom function not from plurinationality but, taking up the word of a thorough socialist (García-Page), from pluriemotionality."