ERC opens an investigation into Puigtió for saying he wants to "kick out" the party leadership in Girona

Barcelona"My intention was to kick them all out and keep Esquerra for myself. And then be able to use their electoral resources." This is one of the phrases that Marc Puigtió, ERC's mayoral candidate in Girona, utters in a conversation with a young man linked to Vox, who recorded the conversation and made it public on social media in the last few hours. Following this leak, the party has opened an informational file to gather all the information and make a decision on the matter. Specifically, the ERC Ethics Commission met this Tuesday afternoon to open the file and "determine, if applicable, the corresponding responsibilities", they point out from the party, which adds that it will not make any further comments on the case until the file is closed.

Puigtió was elected mayoral candidate almost a year ago after tense primaries in which he faced Adam Manyé. In fact, in the audio that has been released, Puigtió also criticizes Manyé and promises to send the young man with whom he is conversing compromising information about him. Furthermore, he reaffirms that he wants to get rid of the current party councilors in the consistory. "I have everyone angry because I am leading a new project and I don't want any of those who are in the town hall and in the party now," states Puigtió. In an interview with Catalunya Ràdio, the leader of ERC, Oriol Junqueras, defended the opening of the file to "gather all the information" and make a decision.

The primaries to elect the city's mayoral candidate were not smooth, but ended with the process being challenged by Manyé. Puigtió won the primaries by a single vote, but Manyé requested that the decisive vote, which contained a sticker with the ERC logo over the candidate Manyé's name, be counted as valid. The party's Guarantee Commission, however, determined that the annulled vote was correctly invalidated. ERC's jurists argued this by taking "jurisprudence from the Electoral Board of Catalonia". There were also two other challenges – one for alleged lack of impartiality of the polling station and another questioning the process as a whole – but they were also dismissed.