Ciudadanos has two months to achieve a survival goal that seems more complicated by the day: not to disappear from the political map after regional and local elections on May 28. And among other difficulties, the budget allocated to the party for this challenge is much smaller than other campaigns. The annual accounts of CS, which this newspaper accessed, show that the income from the training is currently almost five million euros, three million less than appeared in the table for 2022. He also wants to spend the management practically all the money that comes in, so the balance is only 3,000 euros net. “We don’t have as much money as we thought we did. We need to streamline the campaign,” new executive sources admit.
The CS National Committee, the party’s extended leadership, is meeting this Friday for the second time since the new board took over the helm last January. On this occasion the conclave takes place in Granada. The first session of the new General Council, the highest body between assemblies, is also held. In this council, the planned budget for 2023 must be presented and explained in order to make the 120 CS directors aware of the bill. In the document, the leadership acknowledges the economic difficulties that the formation is going through, the consequence of the successive electoral crises: “We would have liked to have been able to present an expansive budget for 2023 and one that would bring great benefits to increase the party’s fortune . The circumstances surrounding this year advise us to exercise caution and restraint,” the text reads.
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These “circumstances” have to do with the dwindling number of affiliates and are accompanied by polls that do not guarantee survival after the spring election date. In the case of the militant quotas, Ciudadanos estimates the entry of 400,000 euros, about 730,000 less than in 2022. Another bleeding occurs in the decline in the contributions of institutional groups. According to the management, the state parliament and local parliamentary groups will transfer 1,250,000 euros to the federal coffers this year, 1,440,000 less than in the previous year. Added to this drop in the amount is the legal mess that the new board uncovered a week ago: the old management lost control of the bank accounts of the institute groups at the end of last year. A control that the new leadership is now rushing to regain, a week after the elections were officially called. This money is important to the party: “Agreements have been signed with us for services, consultancy, program support, management support… And this money is transferred from the factions to the party to provide these services,” CS sources say.
However, according to these sources, the investments that Ciudadanos intends to make for the May election campaign are outside of this budget. “Each of these electoral processes will entail extraordinary expenses not included in the party’s regular budget that we are now presenting, which will reduce the resources accumulated by the party up to this year,” the document warns. Executive sources insist the party’s “net worth” is €11 million. However, other sources claim that this number is inflated. What is officially recognized is that “many bills”, “expenses” and “severance pay” are outstanding. Given the campaign, each regional committee must make the distribution “by weight” of the community. “We will invest more where there is a prospect of better results,” adds the management.
However, management sources guarantee that regardless of what happens on May 28, the party, which will still have nine seats in Congress and five MPs in Brussels, will contest general elections later this year. But until then, it will be necessary to update the budget passed, as indicated by the text sent to councilors: “After the next local and regional elections, a budget review must be carried out in order to adjust the results achieved.”
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First resignation in the new leadership after nominating two candidates without primaries
The new Ciudadanos leadership, who took the helm just two months ago, have already suffered their first casualties. Communications Minister Ramón Fuertes resigned this Wednesday from his post as a member of the Standing Committee “due to internal differences” with his colleagues on the same day that the Ciudadanos candidates for the government were appointed from Aragon and without primaries from Madrid and to the Zaragoza City Council for the forthcoming elections in May. The resignation, announced by the Heraldo de Aragón, comes just two months after the inaugural meeting where the new leadership of Ciudadanos took over the reins of the formation after the departure of the team led by Inés Arrimadas.
“I do not agree with how the situation in Ciudadanos Aragón was handled or according to the forms,” Fuertes explains over the phone. The party had been capsizing in the Autonomous Community for months due to internal fighting. The national leadership decided weeks ago not to hold primaries for fear of “a PP takeover from within,” and a manager was installed to resolve the situation. According to multiple CS sources, management asked the manager to suggest the names of the most suitable candidates. Two of the people proposed were Carlos Ortas and Ramiro Domínguez, both members of the Aragonese Cortes and critics of the national leadership. Finally, the Executive decided that Ortas would run for the regional government and Daniel Pérez for the Zaragoza City Council. Pérez, also a member of the Aragonese Parliament, was also part of the previous Arrimadas executive.
From the party leadership, they justify their decision as follows: “An agreement was reached in Aragon to present the best possible candidates for Ciudadanos and for the political center of Aragon. The agreement is the result of hours of talks between the party in Aragon and also with the party at national level, ushering in a new phase that we face with energy and responsibility. The liberal formation will try to unite all the forces of the political center with Carlos Ortas at the helm as president of CS Aragón.” Several sources indicate that Ciudadanos in the region are associated with a split from the Aragonese Party (PAR), christened as Tú Aragón, negotiated to appear in a coalition in May.
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