February 18 is the date chosen by the president of the Xunta de Galicia, Alfonso Rueda, for the Galicians to go to the polls in the first elections in this autonomous community without Alberto Núñez Feijóo as a candidate, since 2009, when the president of the PP he ran for the presidency of the Xunta and won the elections. Fifteen years later, his successor from just two years ago announced yesterday the dissolution of Parliament next Tuesday and the calling of elections.
With this announcement, the Galician president opens an electoral period that will continue after the Galician elections with the Basque elections, the European elections in June, and perhaps at the end of the year those in Catalonia. All these appointments make 2024 a very important election year.
It will be in Galicia, where the PP will have to demonstrate that Feijóo's succession does not mean losing the government of the Xunta. The PP would be obliged to get an absolute majority if they want to keep the presidency. Four years ago, Feijóo obtained 42 of the 75 deputies that make up the Galician Parliament, four more than the absolute majority, followed by the BNG, with 19 seats, and the PSdG-PSOE, with 14. Podem-EU-Anova, space that would represent now Sumar, did not get representation in 2020.
The last Galician elections were held in July of that year, after they had to be suspended in April due to the pandemic, since their holding had no guarantees, given the serious situation that was experienced at the time. This caused them to be postponed to July 12, with the agreement of all the parties, and in coordination with Lehendakari Íñigo Urkullu, who had made the elections in their respective communities coincide with Feijóo, several times.
Yesterday, the Galician president, Alfonso Rueda, called Urkullu, out of respect, to inform him of his decision to advance the elections, although in previous talks the presidents of Galicia and Euskadi already knew that the elections, this time , they would not be on the same day.
Rueda had also communicated his decision to the president of the PP, with whom he had already explored the possibility of holding the elections as soon as possible, once the budgets for 2024 have been approved. For Rueda it is essential that Galicia is in this interim period, derived from the electoral perspective, the less time the better.
In this sense, the president of the Xunta has disassociated his decision from Génova to the voices that have an impact on this perspective. "The future of Galicia is decided with a road map drawn up here, without mediators or mortgages", he said.
In the Galician elections, Feijóo will play a prominent role in the campaign, with his own electoral caravan, covering the spaces that the Galician president cannot reach, as Mariano Rajoy and Pablo Casado once did. The leader of the opposition plans to set up a caravan parallel to that of Rueda on his route through Galician towns and cities.
The president of the PP sees it as logical to make this kind of deployment, given the importance of the appointment. In its events, it will communicate the political message in a Spanish key, such as that which refers to the amnesty, although it will also address issues that are very sensitive in Galicia, such as regional funding and Next Generation funds. Feijóo is aware that the Galician results will, without a doubt, be read in terms of state politics.
