Aliança affiliates in Figueres demand the reinstatement of the candidate fired for going out with a minor

BarcelonaOn June 28, Aliança Catalana dismissed its candidate in Figueres because he was maintaining a romantic relationship with a former 16-year-old student of his whom he met while giving a talk on sports management. Arnau Liesa, born in 1995 and 30 years old, was not just another head of the list. He was one of the first mayoral candidates the party announced and had the unconditional support of the leadership, as shown by the fact that he was the organization secretary for the Alt Empordà region. He was a rising star and was also aiming for a leading spot on the Girona list for Parliament.

The Figueres membership never doubted for a moment that he should be the candidate, even though people who had run for other parties had also proposed themselves to head the list. The revelation of his relationship with this minor and his expulsion from the party has not changed the opinion of many of the Figueres members. The local party core is demanding his reinstatement. As ARA has learned, they have conveyed this to the leadership, asking for a meeting in which they will demand that Liesa be the candidate again. The unrest is such that in mid-August the militants were about to send a letter to the leadership requesting Liesa's reinstatement, but at the last moment they backed down for fear that disciplinary measures would be taken against them.

The decision, however, depends on the leadership, which is the body that chooses candidates in cities with more than 30,000 inhabitants, and the militants in Figueres are convinced that the party's leadership will not give in. In fact, when the Aliança governing committee met by videoconference with Liesa on June 28 itself, the party had already issued a statement announcing his dismissal, without waiting for him to explain himself. The fear that the news would be leaked to the media, as they had heard would happen, made the leadership act with speed to control the fire. Liesa accepted his dismissal and since then has kept a low profile, separated from the party, without making statements, nor has he held any formal meetings with the Figueres members. "We are in the process of restructuring and consolidating the party in Figueres," is all the leadership says.

"The members want his reinstatement, we still think he is our candidate, even if he is no longer one for the leadership", states a member of the party in the capital of the Alt Empordà with whom ARA has contacted. Be that as it may, they are aware that the leadership will not heed their request: "It is very difficult, when the leadership makes a decision it is immovable". Despite admitting the upheaval that knowing Liesa had a relationship with a minor caused, the members of the local core minimize it: "He is a boy of the old school, traditionalist, and when he can he will make a formal marriage proposal and will marry her, she is the love of his life, as he defended. And when he saw that he was falling in love he left the institute where he was holding those sessions in order to court her, he cannot be branded a pedophile as some commentators with very bad faith have done", they denounce visibly angry.

In search of a substitute

For this reason, they demand that he be the candidate. "The supporters do not care about his private life, and Arnau is the best candidate we can have, with a good head on his shoulders, politically prepared, and with great communication skills to confront the mayor, Jordi Masquef." "With Arnau, we could have won," some of the members even say. The leadership, however, already began working in July to find a substitute indirectly through regional and local leaders. The response from all the militants who have been polled has been negative for the moment, citing personal or professional reasons, and with the firm conviction that Liesa remains the best possible head of the list. Some, however, like Joan Llobet, who until recently was Liesa's right-hand man, could step forward if the leadership, as expected, digs in its heels. "The project comes before names and the list is not in danger," the members make clear, who do not hide that Figueres will be one of Aliança's strongholds. "If we presented a fig tree, the symbol of the city, we would still get two or three councilors anyway," they conclude.