The scope of the Plus Ultra case has grown so large with the indictment of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero for corruption that it has led Alberto Núñez Feijóo to prepare a response that may go beyond calling for Pedro Sánchez’s resignation. “I will fulfill my duty and do everything possible to bring about a change of government,” says the PP leader in private conversations.
In this regard, Feijóo avoids specifying the extent of these words and whether he is explicitly considering presenting a motion of no confidence, but it is true that he invites the idea that it may go beyond the call for Sánchez’s resignation. “When I believe the time has come, I will act,” adds the PP leader.
So far, publicly, Feijóo has never closed the door to a motion of no confidence, but he has always conditioned it on its success. In this sense, for it to succeed, he needs an absolute majority (176 seats) or a simple majority (more “yes” than “no” votes). Therefore, he has always appealed to the Government’s partners, specifically Junts and PNV.
In any case, for now, the PP leader has limited himself to calling for Sánchez’s resignation as he considers him linked to Zapatero and does not specify what other actions he might take. “You only have to read the ruling to realize that without his Council of Ministers, Zapatero would not have been able to commit crimes. Neither he. Nor Ábalos. Nor Santos Cerdán. Nor his circle. No one. And that is the key to everything,” he summarized this Wednesday during the government control session in the face-to-face with Sánchez.
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In that same face-to-face, Sánchez also came out in defense of Zapatero. “All my support to President Zapatero,” he said, which also leaves the Prime Minister even more linked to the former president, indicted in the Plus Ultra case for the alleged crimes of criminal organization, influence peddling, document falsification, and possible money laundering.
Right now, to unseat Sánchez, the PP has two options: wait for the general elections, already scheduled for a year from now; or push for a motion of no confidence. In the first scenario, the polls, supported by the latest electoral cycle, are very favorable and nothing suggests right now that the PP and Vox bloc will not reach an absolute majority.
In the second scenario, the PP appeals to Junts and PNV referring to “how much corruption they are willing to swallow” to try to attract their support for a motion of no confidence. Also, privately, the PP warns that Junts and Carles Puigdemont could be even more weakened if they remain linked to a Sánchez who could lose power in the next legislature because that would mean they would have no influence in Madrid.
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