"It is a point of tactical agreement to try to retain the absolute majority" in the Senate, and a "responsible" and "adult" response to the agreement of the left to present itself in a coalition. The objective of the PP and Vox pact to maximize their results in the Upper House is to retain control of it, but not only.
There are "possibilities", according to Alberto Núñez Feijóo, that the PP-Vox entente will not only secure the majority, but also take over three-fifths of the senators. That is, it reaches 161 seats, a figure that would allow it to appoint four magistrates of the Constitutional Court without having to agree on the names with the PSOE, as has happened until now.
This was stated by the Popular Party candidate in an interview with Rafa Latorre on Onda Cero, this Tuesday: "Are there possibilities with this agreement of reaching three-fifths? Yes, but I don't want to deceive people: for that they have to vote en masse and for this meeting point to function correctly."
That is, what has to happen is that in the 14 constituencies where Vox only presents one candidate for senator, "Vox voters" also mark the names of two PP candidates. Without that tacticism, it will be impossible, in his opinion.
We must remember what the agreement consists of: Santiago Abascal renounces registering his own list in six provinces and Alberto Núñez Feijóo does the same in three others, and in addition Vox only presents one candidate in 14 constituencies, inviting its voters to support PP profiles there as well.
The objective was not to "do things together" or go hand in hand out of affinity, Feijóo clarified, but rather it was necessary to "react" to the union of the left. "Whether you like it more or you like it less," he clarified, after emphasizing that he would not have agreed anything with Vox if the PSOE had not previously joined forces with its partners to attend the Senate together.
"The majority of Spaniards want a change. And the PSOE wants a merger by absorption of 18 parties. Well, what we have done is essential coordination to maintain the possibilities of an absolute majority in the Upper House. It is evident that PP and Vox are not in a coalition, this is a response," Feijóo explained.
As EL MUNDO published today, based on the forecasts given by the latest Sigma Dos survey for this newspaper, extrapolating them from Congress to the Senate, it turns out that the agreement sealed between PP and Vox could place them in a range that goes from 156 to 167 senators, which would enter the three-fifths zone (161).
Of course, Feijóo has stressed that the PP is not giving up any senator, because in the three provinces in which it resigns - Guipúzcoa, Tarragona and Girona - it had no chance of getting it. "It is an issue that does not have a specific electoral impact," he justified.
Feijóo has confirmed that he has spoken with Abascal to promote this agreement, but that it has been his teams -led by Miguel Tellado and Ignacio Garriga- that have negotiated and closed the details.
Another reason behind the agreement is that, for Feijóo, these elections are "the most important in 50 years."
