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Spain Suma did not come to fruition because of the refusal of Citizens, but the truth is that there was and there is a significant part of the orange formation in favor of the union of the center right. Above all, because they predicted the collapse that, in fact, happened on November 10, when the party went from 52 to 10 seats. And because the coalition was the only possible vehicle to try to win the elections.

In this situation, at least twenty territorial leaders of Citizens have knocked on the door of Genoa to enter the popular ranks (or return to them), according to the PP told EL MUNDO.

These are medium and low profile positions: candidates for Congress and the Senate , councilors, former regional deputies and other territorial leaders. Many of them asked for the passage to the PP before the elections, before what they considered a negative drift of Albert Rivera and because it is much easier to achieve a gap in advance, without post-electoral advantages.

Others have done so after the electoral debacle. Some have joined, others have simply consummated their approach to the PP, waiting for their opportunity. The list to which this newspaper has had access includes names such as Rebeca Grajea , former deputy of the orange formation in the Parliament of La Rioja , or Jesús San José Sancho and Pablo Pombo , candidates two and three of Citizens to the Senate by Valladolid .

Javier Gómez , Secretary of Citizens Organization in the Basque Country , was dismissed by Albert Rivera for negotiating a coalition with the PP under the name of Vascos Suman . Gómez then consumed his approach to Beatriz Fanjul, popular deputy for Vizcaya .

After his dismissal, the directive of Cs in Vitoria left the party. Of them, they knocked on the door of the PP Miguel Leal , former head of the Orange List to Congress for Álava in the April elections, and Iñaki Sánchez , the candidate of Citizens to the City Council of the Basque capital in May.

The orange formation rejected before 10-N five coalition offers in as many autonomies: Asturias , Basque Country , Andalusia , Castile and Leon and the Balearic Islands . That's where the PP is going to influence more to open the door to leaders who want to make the leap. But - they specify in Genoa - without offering them anything better in return or dirty plays.

Another one that has taken the step from Citizens to the PP is Jesús Primitivo Rodríguez , a university professor at the Rey Juan Carlos University that belonged to Ciudadanos Seseña and who was a candidate in the primary of Ciudadanos for the April election.

As this newspaper published, the PP already works with the idea of ​​a merger with Citizens "in the medium term." "If we triple Rivera in votes, we will absorb Cs in the medium term," said a source very close to Pablo Casado before knowing the election results. That "medium term" is two to four years. After 10-N, the options have accelerated: "With 10 seats and multiplying by eight its result, Cs is destined to end up being a lesser force, like UPyD, hence there are now more absorption options."

In the Casado team they want a broad coalition in which some of the leaders of Cs that have run out of seats, such as José Manuel Villegas , and which former socialists like Rosa Díez and leftist intellectuals linked to the platform of Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo, Free and Equal.

In the PP they believe that the "natural" is the coalition of both formations, and that is why they are prioritizing Cs as a partner in Congress and the Senate. Suffice it to show the popular and orange pact on the Table of both cameras, leaving Vox out of play. In the PP they understand, however, that they must leave a certain margin for Citizens to recover. "It depends on Agnes" do it soon, they say. In addition, they ensure that there are already movements, for example in Andalusia , beyond those who have "crossed the bridge."

Asked about this issue following the publication of this article, the Vice Secretary of Territorial Policy of the PP, Antonio González Terol , said Monday that "of course" anyone, whether or not in charge of Citizens, will have "open doors in Genoa "in case you want to be part of the party led by Pablo Casado.

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  • PP
  • Citizens
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  • Spain Sum
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  • Pablo Casado

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