Nervousness in the PP parliamentarians due to the lists for 23J, given the question of whether Feijóo will renew a lot

Some deputies and senators recognize that the growth expectations of the PP leave them more free spaces in the candidacies

MADRID, 3 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) -

PP deputies and senators consulted by Europa Press admit that there is "worry", "nervousness" and "unease" within the Popular Group over the preparation of the lists for the general elections on July 23, given the question of whether the leader of his training, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, will opt or not for a high renewal.

However, this uncertainty will only last two weeks because between June 14 and 19 the parties have to present their candidacies to Congress and the Senate at the provincial electoral boards, according to the decree convoking the general elections published in the Official State Gazette (BOE).

According to the Statutes of the PP, the approval of the candidacies that will be presented in the elections to the Cortes Generales corresponds to the National Electoral Committee, a body chaired by the Galician Diego Calvo, who is also second vice president and counselor of the Presidency, Justice and Sports of the Xunta.

The electoral coordination in the preparation of the candidacies has fallen to the deputy secretary of Territorial Organization, Miguel Tellado, who is one of Feijóo's most trusted people and who already accompanied him in Galicia as general secretary of the Galician PP. The coordination of the electoral program and the campaign will fall to the general secretary of the party and the number three of the PP, Cuca Gamarra and Elías Bendodo, respectively.

Since Feijóo came to the Presidency of the PP --in April 2022-- he has transferred his 'barons' in "at least four internal meetings" that they would be free to make candidacies in their territories before the municipal and regional ones, but that the lists to Congress and the Senate correspond to the national leadership of the party, according to what 'popular' sources have reminded Europa Press.

PP parliamentarians consulted by Europa Press do not hide that "nervousness" has grown since the date of the general elections was known, although they admit that the polls point to electoral growth for the PP that leaves them "more gaps" in the candidacies.

"There is a dead calm," sums up a PP leader, who believes that Feijóo "is not going to make blood" with the lists. "He is not going to do a crazy sieve," says another veteran PP parliamentarian, who recalls that his predecessor, Pablo Casado, opted in the 2019 general elections for a high renovation, especially in the headliners of Congress, leaving out or relegating the Senate to positions with extensive experience. The PP reaped its worst electoral result in those elections: 66 seats.

Now, sources from the Popular Group agree, there are better electoral prospects, with surveys that even give them more than 140 seats in Congress compared to the current 89. In the Senate, as they add, the figure may be similar compared to the hundred senators they had in this already dissolved XIV legislature.

PP sources have indicated that Feijóo and his team have been analyzing the profiles of their parliamentarians for a long time because they want to prioritize "experience" and "management capacity." "Now what is going to be looked at is whether one is worth it or not, not the criminal record," exclaims a parliamentarian, alluding to the descriptions of "sorayistas", "cospedalistas" or "casadistas" that prevailed in the past when preparing the candidacies.

Part of the leadership of the PP that landed with Feijóo in the Senate a year ago - after the extraordinary congress that put an end to the leadership of Pablo Casado - will now go to Congress, starting with Feijóo himself, who will head the list for Madrid.

It will be necessary to see if the general coordinator of the PP, Elías Bendodo, the vice-secretary of Organization, Miguel Tellado, the person in charge of Economy, Juan Bravo, the vice-secretary of Territorial, Pedro Rollán, or the president of the Rights Committee, accompany him in the Lower House and Guarantees, José Antonio Monago. All of them currently hold a seat in the Senate.

At this time, only the general secretary of the PP, Cuca Gamarra, and the vice-secretary for Studies and Programs, Carmen Navarro, hold a seat in Congress. In the new legislature that will start after the generals, it is expected that a good part of Feijóo's team will have a seat in the Lower House.

One of the doubts on the lists is the PP deputy for Barcelona and former spokesperson for the Popular Group, Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo, who has been involved in the campaign despite having undergone surgery this May for a breast tumor.

PP sources consulted by Europa Press predict that the president of the Popular Party will count on her, especially when in 'Genoa' they see her as an electoral asset. "A party needs profiles of all kinds and Feijóo is not going to step on any calluses," added party sources.