One has to disappear

A hectic weekend. Applause meters must be purchased to measure, by decibels and hand wear, the enthusiasm of the PP congress, a party that wants to emerge from the conclave as if it had swept a general election. And tons of tissues must be sent to the PSOE federal committee to dry tears of emotion at the move the divine Sánchez will announce and the incantations officiated under the cries of "Get out of here, Ábalos; Get out of here, Leire and Koldo; Get out of here, Cerdán."

Feijóo arrives on this date like Aznar in his time: with his opponent on the ropes and published opinion counting to ten to declare his victory. Rarely, perhaps never, has a PP candidate had such an easy task. It's not that the conservative leader is the desired one for his charisma; it's that general circumstances carry him on their shoulders to the gates of the Moncloa Palace. The coincidences that led the other Leire, Leire Pajín, to talk about the global alignment of Zapatero and Obama in favor of the right are occurring: corruption, doubts about illegal financing, unpopular ministers, chaos in public services, a housing bubble, judges and prosecutors on the warpath, a president who can't go out for fear of insults...

If, after these triumphant expectations, the Popular Party fails to crush the Socialist Party in the polls, or win a sufficient majority in the elections, or govern without the brazen demands of Vox, it could enter a period of depression, which political analysts describe as a long journey through the desert. And it's not out of the question. We'll refine this forecast starting Sunday, but one thing can be said: the path to a vote of no confidence will remain closed, no matter what happens; Sánchez holds the key to the ballot box and will use it whenever it suits him. These two circumstances prolong Feijóo's wait at the Moncloa Palace, preventing him from entering.

During that time, but with an ideological framework that I assume is new and will emerge from its congress, the PP has to abandon the "go away, Mr. Sánchez" rhetoric because it's worn out, it's not winning votes, and if it does, they may go to Vox. It has to take a leap forward and stop being "the party of no," because society is demanding proposals, not just layoffs. And, as Aznar already warned Feijóo, it has to conceive and present an attractive governance project and, if possible, a state project, a major political problem to which no one is seeking a consensus solution, as if it were something unattainable. The terrible thing is that perhaps it is. People often ask us old-timers why a general understanding for the Constitution was possible and ceased to be so a few years ago. My answer is: because back then there was a collective national project based on two words: democracy and Europe. Today, having achieved both goals, instead of a project, there is selfishness and exclusion. That's the crisis.

And tomorrow, at the PSOE, the federal committee. "High temperature," the augurs say. Obviously, although it's likely to end as always: with all those present—a couple of exceptions, no more—declaring their allegiance to Sánchez, their trust in Sánchez, and proclaiming Sánchez as their savior, amen. And after that, the transcendent question for the country: this Socialist Party has lost its ideology. It only holds it for rallies, it's diluted in the government. One day it could be Sumar, because Yolanda Díaz needs some fresh air. Another day it could be the capitalism of the PNV, at the demands of Basque capitalism.

Another, amnesty, you already know why. The next, the mess with NATO, so as not to send Podemos into opposition, even if Ione Belarra sees her term annihilated. And in the end, whatever Esquerra demands, while Bildu demands nothing, because the image of a pact-making party whitewashes it in the eyes of the Basque electorate. Consequence: the PSOE has lost its ideology. It has other magnificent ones, but they're not its own. That's why not even Felipe González will vote for it today, as he confessed to Carlos Alsina. That's a real rupture. If the PSOE had a memory, that would be the schism.

If socialism suffocates and the democratic right gasps underwater, something deeper will happen: the entire framework of the two-party system could disintegrate and be left for archaeologists to study. It was the Spanish people who killed it with their votes. It was Pedro Sánchez who buried it with his alliances. Will we witness its resurrection starting tomorrow? I doubt it. As long as Sánchez and Feijóo are at the head of their parties, forget all hope. At least one of them must disappear.