Spain: main opposition party PP in crisis
The conservative People's Party (PP) is in the midst of an internal power struggle between two Madrid politicians: Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the president of the capital region, and Pablo Casado, leader of the party at the national level. The PP is the main opposition party and the strife is likely to intensify the drift of votes to the far-right Vox party, as was already evident in the regional Castilla y León elections on 13 February. The media are concerned.
Alienating the citizens from the institutions
El Periódico de Catalunya accuses the PP of acting irresponsibly:
“The impudence of this intra-party struggle in the largest opposition party also damages Spanish politics as a whole, because it alienates citizens from parties and institutions and could diminish the country's reputation beyond our borders. ... The dispute has reached the point where a truce seems impossible. The PP is badly wounded and [PM] Pedro Sánchez, without rivals on the right, sees his continuation in office as assured. But the biggest beneficiary of this unfortunate situation is Vox, which will continue to grow at the expense of the PP's crisis. This represents a serious danger for Spanish democracy.”
The future of the entire party is at stake
ABC calls for Pablo Casado's resignation and a new start for the PP:
“Casado has lost the confidence of his own party and panic is spreading that any chance the PP had of winning the elections against Pedro Sánchez has vanished. ... The entire party is in shock, the entire party is contaminated, the entire party's future is at stake. It's no longer just a question of the regional barons favouring one or the other, of continuing the probability calculations and of delaying dismissals. ... The People's Party is in a new phase. This team that succeeded [ex-premier] Mariano Rajoy has run out of time. ... Casado must resign today.”