Most recently, Inés Arrimadas faced the critics of her party in July. Thus, the President of Ciudadanos (Cs) had to defend an uncertain process of renewal in front of a hundred members of the General Council – the highest body between the assemblies. Three months later, the process is still hesitant for many. The leader of the Cs met again this Friday, this time electronically, with about seventy council members to present the work done so far by what is known as the G-8, the team leading the start-up. However, the appointment of Juan Marín as head of an Andalusian government agency and repeated requests for the exact number of members overshadowed him. According to Marín, the popular interest is for the deputy mayor of Madrid, Begoña Villacís, to join the Madrid City Council on her lists, despite the Ciudadanos leader’s public rejection.
“We need to reconnect with society, get excited again,” Arrimadas said. “If they don’t inspire us or us, how are they supposed to inspire the rest,” accuses a critical council member. The week had started with a blow to the image of Ciudadanos, a champion of renewal and the fight against revolving doors, when it was revealed that Marín had accepted the offer of CEO Juan Manuel Moreno to head the economic department of the Council and Social of Andalusia.
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Marín’s position, political appointment and public salary, was precisely the subject of one of the questions formulated during the General Council’s celebration this Friday. Multiple sources are calling for “greater urgency” in management’s response, which separates the former vice president’s departure from that of other former senior officials because it is a “very institutional” position. There will be no retribution: Marín will remain a member unless he resigns himself. “I gave everything for Ciudadanos and I don’t owe anyone else an explanation,” the former vice president said on Thursday, who also said he had accepted after informing Arrimadas of his decision.
The secretary of the organization of Cs, Carlos Pérez-Nievas, replied to the council that an expulsion procedure could not be initiated because it was not a “political position” as required by the statute. “[Marín] he used us and the boss doesn’t get wet,” complains one director. “You can’t tell the mayors ‘Hold on, despite the elections, don’t go to the PP’ and then downplay the importance of Marin,” adds a member of the executive.
Genoa’s citizen recruitment strategy was reactivated in this course in anticipation of local and regional elections in the spring and general elections scheduled for late next year. Some movements, which have intensified in recent weeks after Alberto Núñez Feijóo took over the leadership of the PP in April, halted the hostile takeover bid that had been instigated by former PP organizing secretary Teodoro Garcia Egea.
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Cs leadership sources admit that from PP headquarters – now with Elías Bendodo commanding the operation, this time sibylline – they are trying to attract figures that add election revenue, with a focus on the deputy mayor of Madrid. “They’ll be able to pick someone up on time, but it won’t have the effect they expect,” the same voices affirm. PP sources in different areas explain that “there is no explicit mandate” from Genoa to attract the mayors, but that these leaks are taking place in places where harmony reigns. One of the last was the deputy to the Valencian courts Jesús Salmerón, who left Cs in May 2021 and was no longer assigned. He becomes mayor of the PP of Gátova (419 inhabitants, Valencia). In his statement, he expressly thanked Carlos Mazón, President of the Valencian PP, for the “trust” shown.
In no case will it be about electoral coalitions, but about concrete list offers to members of Ciudadanos with a special pull effect. Eyes are mainly on the President of Cs, Inés Arrimadas, and Villacís. In the circle of the mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, it would not be amiss that the former deputy mayor became number two on his ballot, given the hypothesis that this combination would swallow up an absolute majority. Publicly and privately, however, this possibility is met with Villacís’ outright refusal to join a PP candidacy. Popular sources warn that the C’s leader’s decision should be immediate. “[Villacís] cannot rest on its laurels,” they emphasize.
The deputy mayor, for her part, disputes the majority. “I want the PP to adopt liberal values,” he said on Tuesday. Villacís is actively involved in the re-establishment of Cs as coordinator of the G-8 team. From those around them, they assure that their destination is the mayor’s office; nothing more. And under the Ciudadanos brand.
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