The motion of no confidence rejected two years ago in the Region of Murcia marked the beginning of the Ciudadanos fiasco in the Valencian Community and Alicante province. This episode concluded with Toni Cantó, the regional leader, leaving as an official kickoff signal for some of the involved actors the project launched that day to drop out of many other high-profile schools. river Shortly after Cantó, Emilio Argüeso or Marta Martín appeared. Two years later, the Liberal formation continues without stopping its lost blood, which is highlighted if possible as the elections on 28 May draw close and turns survival into an increasingly complex exercise. Moreover, there is everything in the scenario of a split that was already evident two years ago between those who favor rapprochement with the PP, many of whom are ex-militants or ex-popular, and those who advocate building bridges with the Socialists. The most they still resist in Ciudadanos.
The week now ending has been largely marked by the numerous crises of Cs in Alicante and in the regional political sphere. The epicenter on this occasion was in the Provincial Assembly of Alicante, an institution where two representatives of the oranges bid farewell to the party. Deputy Infrastructure Javier Gutiérrez kicked off on Monday and continued shortly thereafter on Thursday with Vice President Julia Parra. The purpose of the PP, where they share a government team, is to stay at the forefront of their power. This fact led to the president being accused of “corruption” from the left by Carlos Mazón, who is also the PP’s Generalitat candidate. At the regional level, Parra and Gutiérrez point out that the party leadership, led by Mamen Peris, is working in Botànic’s favor. All that with a little over two months left for the 28M.
Between the first outing, Cantó’s, and the last, Parra’s, Cs plays a leading role in the history of a foretold death. The then-regional leader parted ways with the Liberals in mid-March 2021 and left his minutes at the Cortes amid accusations that he was in free fall against the party. His march came after the failed bloc demanding the resignation of the executive, including leader Inés Arrimadas, to “revive” the formation and withdraw the “ridiculous” no-confidence motion in Murcia, resulting in an electoral push in Madrid and Spain. victory of the popular Isabel Díaz Ayuso.
Trustee in the courts
By then, Cortes’ trustee had been summoned by Arrimadas to a meeting in the Spanish capital to quell the internal rebellion unleashed from his reins and the accusations against the PP that had only been escalating for months at the time. . Hesitantly, he sang, hastily left the assembly, and took to the street to announce, in front of the journalists waiting for him, that he was resigning from all his duties in the formation, without informing his fellow abbreviations before. He became a member of parliament and left politics. Second, over time it became clear that it wasn’t true.
The shenanigans in Murcia, along with the backlog of electoral failures it produced, notably in Catalonia, brought the C’s to a crossroads from which they could not get out. What happened in the Murcian lands shook the political landscape in much of Spain and began to undermine the liberal establishment in the Valencian Community, where it was headless. It didn’t take long for the Oranges to fire Alicante senator Emilio Argüeso, only a few days, and he was accused of offering “advantages” to attract former PP leavers.
The national leadership of the C’s demanded that one of its strongmen in the Community leave his registration as a representative in the Upper House, which he attributed to a “revenge” organized by Arrimadas because of the Alicante native’s closeness with Fran Hervías. Former secretary of the Cs Organization who leapt into the popular ranks. This move only weakened the Valencian branch of the Liberals, which had not yet digested Cantó’s sudden departure and was embroiled in a battle for control of the parliamentary group.
24 hours
If it was necessary to wait two days between Cantó’s departure and Argüeso’s departure, the next leak came only 24 hours later. It was that of Marta Martín, MP from Alicante, who left her seat in Congress due to disagreements with the leadership. The failed motion in Murcia and the call for early elections in Madrid resulted in a dizzying disastrous week for the C’s. The education crisis triggered the resignation of positions and at that time already brought the political project to the brink.
Two years later, the outlook is not so rosy for liberals in the Community and the state. Last February was ruled with no further progress, more casualties and now more jumps to PP to qualify for Mazón’s Generalitat race. The most notorious moves at the regional level were that of trustee Ruth Merino, who went from orange spokesperson at the Cortes in the blink of an eye to being a member of the popular candidate’s economic team. The announcement of Francisco Sánchez, who ceased to be the Cs municipal spokesperson in Elda, as the popular mayor in the same municipality.
The former spokesperson for the liberals in the Cortes independently reached the ranks of the PP. At the press conference where the signing was announced, Mazón stressed that the movement confirmed that its project was “clear, focused and distinctly social in nature”. The day Merino arrived at the PP, Mamen Peris, who had replaced him as trustee, was received by President Puig at the Palau de la Generalitat; this meant a new phase of convergence between PSPV and the current leadership of the Cs. It got worse as the weeks went by.
municipalities
At the state level, Francisco Sánchez’s arrival in the PP did not have an easy integration. In fact, the resignation of Fran Muñoz, the popular president in Elda, came to an end this week after he was rejected as mayor to bring the already liberals’ export spokesperson to the position. Fifty PP members out of a total of 200 in the municipality threatened to resign following the decision by the Mazón leadership. Existing councilors also expressed their concern at the possibility of being removed from the list.
Indeed, in the state, the integration of former members of the orange formation into the ranks of the people has not been easy and has led to tensions in more municipalities, as in the case of Granja de Rocamora, where Cs mayor Javier Mora is present. , will be the mayoral candidate from the PP on May 28. This news was not well received by popular councilors in the town of Vega Baja, who submitted their resignations in a bloc. In Sant Joan d’Alacant they are also working on a joint list of PP and oranges, but in this municipality now all eyes are on the liberal mayor Santiago Román. Vine, also mayor of the town of l’Alacantí.
Elche is another of the municipalities that have not survived the ups and downs of the Cs. Municipal spokesperson Eva Crisol announced her intention to leave the liberal formation at the plenary meeting held on February 27, the day it was learned that Eduardo García-Ontiveros had drawn up her list as 28M candidate from Elche. elections. This is striking as García-Ontiveros is now back in the party after being kicked out almost four years ago.
If February is a hectic month, March is not far behind. On this occasion, the center of the action is located in Diputación de Alicante. So it all started last Monday when Javier Gutiérrez, Deputy for Infrastructure, announced that he would be leaving the C’s and moving to the non-member group after a tumultuous relationship with his hitherto party party last year. The differences that emerged after the no-confidence motion in Orihuela were marked by the two cases he filed against him and his departure from the PSPV and the Xixona government team he led. However, from the beginning of his tenure, he has always been seen very close to the PP.
Gutiérrez slammed the door after accusing the current leadership of the C’s of working for President Puig and trying to destabilize the government team in Diputación in order to discredit Mazón and gain electoral advantages for Botànic. On Tuesday, the other representative the Liberals have at the state agency, Vice President Parra, came out to defend his partner and regrets that the education he has received has not valued his work in recent years.
Ultimatum
Peris himself, accompanied by current national coordinator Carlos Pérez-Nievas, went to the Provincial Assembly on Wednesday to summon Parra and deliver an ultimatum to Mazón: either fire Gutiérrez or break the government agreement with the PP; Monday. There was no need to wait that long for Parra to follow the same path as her partner, leaving Cs and joining the non-member group, just one day.
The situation now oscillates between the push for power by two defectors from the left on Mazón, and the PP closing its ranks to end the mandate with them. All that with a little over two months left for the 28M. The breakup of Cs, which started two years ago in Murcia, had its last part to date in Diputación. It was announced on March 10, 2021, on the exact anniversary of the failed motion.
Focusing on those still resisting in the orange formation
After what happened with Ciudadanos in Alicante Provincial Council this week, eyes are now on the situation of other members of the orange formation in the province. This is the case, for example, of Santiago Román, mayor of Sant Joan d’Alacant, or Mari Carmen Sánchez, deputy mayor of Alicante, who seem to be closer to the PP. Román supported Julia Parra’s departure and started a period of reflection about her future. Sánchez, on the other hand, chose to take himself out of focus, assuring that he was focused on management and that his term would come to an end.
Others stick to abbreviations much more. This group includes Alicante mayor Adrián Santos Pérez, who advocated “turning the page” after the departure of Parra and Javier Gutiérrez and continued to work on the project. This group also includes Benejúzar mayor Rosa García; José Aix, deputy mayor of Orihuela; or the candidate Eduardo García-Ontiveros in Elche, after being expelled almost four years ago.
In total, the C’s currently have 27 mayors appointed in the province. Mamen Peris stated that one of her priorities is to close the lists as she heads the party at the regional level. After the crisis in Alicante County Council, it will now be time to complete the puzzle.
Source: Informacion
Emma Matthew is a political analyst for “Social Bites”. With a keen understanding of the inner workings of government and a passion for politics, she provides insightful and informative coverage of the latest political developments.