The president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso , and Genoa are still immersed in a pulse that begins to become chronic about the management of the Popular Party of Madrid, whose Congress has not yet been convened while the former requests its celebration as soon as possible convinced that when the time comes, the affiliates will overwhelmingly support it.
Neither party hides that the situation is “complicated” and “a mess” that is becoming “more entangled” , although both sources from Ayuso and Genoa’s environment coincide when it comes to pointing out that they are working to reduce tension. . Of course, they also have in common the perception that the opposite does not do its part to tackle in the short term a crisis that is disturbing the popular ranks.
Sources of the leadership of the PP consulted by this agency refer to the “guideline” not to talk about everything related to a Congress that has not even been convened and go back to the moment in which Ayuso “skipped” this slogan that is worth for all territories by filtering their intentions at the turn of summer and then by insisting that times be accelerated.
This “stresses” the internal situation , emphasize the aforementioned sources in Genoa, to which they add their disgust over other leaks about the blockade on WhatsApp of Ayuso to the general secretary of the PP, Teodoro García Egea , or about a possible legal action related to the president against Genoa if the Regional Congress is not convened before March 2022.
At the top of the PP they think that now the situation should be “relaxed” and they hope that Ayuso and his team will contribute to it and that there will be no more “attacks.” In their case, they underline that all their statements and actions go along the lines of reducing tension and focusing on the need for the entire PP to row in the same direction, that is, to help Pablo Casado in his career towards La Moncloa at a time when the surveys are on their side.
In this sense, sources close to Ayuso indicate that the president has also been making statements “positive, conciliatory and integration” for many days . Moreover, they believe that for their part they have not said “anything to cloud the situation” and that only the desire to give “normality” as soon as possible to the PP in Madrid has moved.
In any case, from the Puerta del Sol they also emphasize that Ayuso has already said that “he will abide by what the national leadership says” and they see logical that he shows his intention to take over the leadership of the PP in Madrid after his overwhelming victory in the elections of the last May 4. After the appointment with the polls, he already told Casado that this was his wish and now they do not understand “the reluctance” of Genoa.
Around the regional president they complain about the lack of support from the national leadership and believe that an alternative candidacy to Ayuso’s would be “against her.” In any case, they assure that it is willing to go to the end and show their conviction that it would sweep away the support of the affiliates.
For now, only Ayuso has made his intentions clear, despite the fact that the name of the mayor of Madrid and national spokesman for the PP, José Luis Martínez-Almeida , resonates strongly. He complies with the “guideline” and does not want to discuss this in public . However, sources from his environment confirm that last Thursday he defended “the third way” when eating with the president.
Different versions offer sources close to Ayuso about that lunch with Almeida that took place at the Royal Post Office last week. ” There was no talk of third ways or lists for the next PP regional congress . Only unity and joint projects”, they slide from Sol, and they speak of “one more meeting” while underlining the “friendship” that exists between the partners , as they are called.
Thus, the crisis over the PP in Madrid remains at the center of public debate and the popular ranks find the solution difficult despite the fact that just over a month ago many leaders of the formation envisioned a truce when Ayuso remarked at the National Convention from Valencia his unwavering support for Pablo Casado. At that time, the Madrid president proclaimed that her “place” and her “political goal” is Madrid .
Discrepancy for the times
“The official thing is that the Congress has not been convened and that the National Board of Directors has set the deadlines,” sources from the national leadership of the PP remarked to Servimedia at the insistence of the regional president to advance the conclave in which the new leadership of training in Madrid.
These deadlines imply celebrating it in the first half of 2022, although Genoa does not specify in which month it will be done despite having pointed to “spring” of next year on numerous occasions. Before all the multi-provincial Congresses have to take place and then it will be the turn of the single-provincial ones, as is the case in Madrid.
In addition, the celebration of the National Convention at the beginning of October has slowed down the times and all the Congresses must be balanced in the coming months. At the moment, the one for Castilla-La Mancha (on the 13th and 14th) and the one for Andalusia (on the 20th and 21st) are already set for November, and for the 18th and 19th of December that of Aragon. In the Ayuso environment, however, they claim to do the Madrid one in March at the latest, five years after the previous conclave.
In March 2017, the PP of Madrid ratified Cristina Cifuentes as its president in the XVI Congress. On April 27, 2018, she would resign from this position, two days after resigning as regional president after a video was broadcast in which a security guard ordered her to empty her purse, in which there were two cans of cosmetic creams, and all this after weeks in which he was required to resign as a result of his controversial master’s degree at the Rey Juan Carlos University.
On May 7, 2018, the former president of the Government and the PP, Mariano Rajoy , entrusted Pío García-Escudero with the leadership of the party in Madrid . Then it was said that he would hold this position until the holding of a regional Congress after the May 2019 elections. Based on these times, Ayuso’s team emphasize that in March 2021 the four years established by the Statutes of the training they must pass between Congresses.
In any case, they admit that due to exceptional circumstances , such as the holding of successive elections, the party’s Congresses can be delayed for another year, which would be held in March 2022. They grab onto this from the Ayuso environment to insistently demand that the conclave take place in the first quarter of 2022.
Sources close to Ayuso have denounced Genoa’s maneuvers against the regional president, but they make it clear that she will fight until the end to take over the leadership of the PP in Madrid in order to start arming the party for the next elections and give “normality” , since the rest of regional presidents are also part of the party.
Ayuso’s determination is such that he even plans to appoint his spokesperson in the regional Assembly, Alfonso Serrano, general secretary of the Madrid PP if she is proclaimed president of the organization. This desire of Ayuso would also imply an end to the stage of secretary general of Ana Camíns, who has also been spoken of as a possible “third way” .
