Chaos in the Catalan People's Party: the party never meets with its leadership due to internal divisions.

BarcelonaThe disarray and the struggle continue within the Catalan People's Party (PP), despite attempts to reverse it, at least in appearance. The party attempted to return to normality after the parliamentary elections of 12-M, in which quintupled the results until catapulting itself into the fourth largest party with fifteen deputies, alongside Alejandro Fernández as its candidate. Since the beginning of Salvador Illa's presidency, it has sought to establish itself as the alternative and has revived practices that are part of the daily routine of all parties, such as Monday press conferences—abandoned since the pandemic until this term—but with very limited normality, especially because the internal battle continues. It is not only the fact that the leadership is expired for more than three years –the Catalan congress should have been held in 2022 and it is not planned thatthat will be done until Alberto Núñez Feijóo can become Spanish president - but the management committee has not met since Isla became president and goes back much further than a year ago, according to what ARA has learned from several sources.

Fernández's critics denounce this practice: some sources regret that it "violates the statutes" and others, uncomfortably, emphasize that "the regional president is the one who calls the meeting," with the last blow of a body they consider essential in internal life now very far behind. They also regret that the executive committee - the extended management - does not meet once a month. The relationship between the different members of the management is poor, between Fernández and the sector of pragmatists headed by the general secretary, Santi Rodríguez.

Fernández's entourage asserts that the executive committee meeting is "discretionary," that many regions, such as the Community of Madrid, do not hold one, unlike the state leadership—which religiously calls one every Monday—and that the Catalan PP president opts for other, more operational meetings with the vice-secretaries who agree on mandatory directives. Vice-secretaries such as Juan Milián, Llanos de Luna, and Fernando Sánchez Costa are close to Fernández's line. The PP's executive committee in the province of Barcelona does meet every Monday, like numerous provinces across the country. In any case, the party in Catalonia is divided even over its Monday meetings, while in Spain, the recent congress has projected an image of unity.

Although Fernández called one at the beginning of his term, he quickly realized that it was not "the right formula" to move the party forward, lacking the deep-rooted "tradition" of doing so. But other Catalan regional leaders had convened weekly meetings. Among other things, the current situation is explained by internal animosity between sectors. Critics, whom Fernández's associates attribute to the desire to "destabilize" the situation, criticizing the way things are done, something the Catalan leader already reflects in his book. In your underwear.

Crash

Is Fernández violating the bylaws by not calling Monday's meeting? The regulations clearly establish that the steering committee, chaired by the president and also composed of the secretary general and deputy secretaries, meets "regularly on a weekly basis." While this is seen as an obligation by several leaders, Fernández's entourage sees it as an option, one that is more entrenched in the state leadership, the so-called "mornings". This means that every Monday, when the press conference is held, the general secretary, Santi Rodríguez, speaks without the steering committee having met, unlike the press conferences of the party's spokesperson in the State, Borja Sémper, and the majority of parties, who on Mondays usually talk about the leadership's agreements. Precisely, sources offer weekly press conferences, something that Fernández has never prioritized but has ended up being accepted, as well as the weekly frequency of press conferences in Parliament by the spokesperson in the chamber, Juan Fernández. The political parties hold leadership meetings on Monday to analyze the political situation and plan. away from Fernández, who receives criticism for being a free verse and maintaining a critical spirit with Feijóo. In the midst of the tension, a distribution of roles in the party ends up taking place without prior coordination in the Catalan leadership with formal meetings. uncomfortable by the Fernández's pulse with Feijóo. In fact, by the state congress, Fernández proposed a veto to reach an agreement with Junts, but finally reached an agreement with the management that does not explicitly state the cordon to the junteros and is limited to clarifying principles for reaching an agreement. The Catalan leader has always emphasized that, despite not having the support of many of the cadres, he does have it from the rank and file, and now he would have no problem holding the congress. Despite the internal differences, those close to the leader of the Catalan PP comment that he is "focused on the opposition"in Isla in the face of "the non-appearance of ERC and Junts".