Martí's victory shakes Junts

BarcelonaJunts is in turmoil the day after Jordi Martí's victory in the primaries in Barcelona, which has made him the party's candidate in the municipal elections in the capital. He was not the leadership's man, quite the opposite; prominent members of the top brass maneuvered to boost the officialist Pilar Calvo, a deputy in Congress and president of the National Council. But the operation failed: Xavier Trias' right-hand man has won and, with him, the clearly convergent DNA. And this has caused an upheaval in the formation, as this newspaper has confirmed from various sources.

Multiple personalities from the local scene contacted by this newspaper confirm that "the convergent soul is succeeding" and that the former president "Puigdemont does not control the party." And other Junts sources qualify that, rather than Puigdemont himself, it is "his escorts" who have lost the battle and "are hurt." Within the party, those who pushed for Calvo, who did not manage to achieve three out of every ten votes from militants, have been prominent figures in the leadership such as, above all, the leader in Congress, Miriam Nogueras, or people close to the general secretary, Jordi Turull. On the other hand, the deputy president, Albert Batet, pushed for unity around Calvo in recent days, along with other members of the leadership.

In fact, several members of the leadership have pushed to integrate the candidacy of deputy Glòria Freixa into Calvo's and for lawyer Jaume Alonso-Cuevillas to withdraw from the race. The failure to unify sensitivities around Calvo in primaries not desired by the top brass has shown the seams and reopened wounds.

However, Turull has quickly extended a hand to Martí and was the main person from the top brass who congratulated him, in a joint appearance. This fact does not hide the absence of a public congratulation from Puigdemont, which is a demonstration of a tough battle between people close to him and Martí. In private, as reported by Catalunya Ràdio and confirmed by ARA, it was not until this morning that he did so. Specifically, according to knowledgeable sources consulted by this newspaper, at 10:15 this morning the former president sent a message to congratulate the Barcelona municipal leader, 15 hours after the results were known, and without resorting to a phone call. In an interview with RTVE, Martí said publicly early this morning that he had not received any calls.

Discontent

According to various sources, this explains the discontent within the party and the leadership. The firm public support for Calvo from Puigdemont's lawyer, Gonzalo Boye, which is in addition to private moves, has also generated much concern in the Catalan capital. Puigdemont has wanted to remain completely on the sidelines, as has the entire national leadership publicly, but not people of his utmost confidence, and this has multiplied the anger from various quarters. This is what Cuevillas called "pre-congress", a battle between families that has indeed occurred and in which Martí's convergents have won the first round.

According to some sources, it is "a clear message from the membership" that it is necessary to "recover the soul of being a centre-right governing party", far removed from 2017. But it does not prevent that there is also a warning from multiple officials that until there are changes in the leadership, there will hardly be the shift they desire at the national level, and this will not happen at least until after next year's municipal elections.

At the same time, there are voices that point out that 60% of the membership did not vote for Martí, although it is also true that Freixa's candidacy (11%) is also clearly convergent and pragmatic, although not opposed to the leadership. The problem has been the standoff with Martí, who has stood firm despite attempts to recruit a media personality such as businessman Tatxo Benet, former president Artur Mas, or former minister Quim Forn. When the figures failed the leadership's preferred option was the national spokesperson, Josep Rius, who withdrew to avoid "division" once Martí formally communicated that he wanted primaries. But the internal rift cannot be concealed.

"The convergents will love each other in 2027 with Martí, then we can start again," assure party sources who do not align themselves with the pragmatists. In fact, they warn that they have lost 20% of their members compared to the start of Junts in the city and that some voters less close to CiU will not vote for Martí. There are also those who emphasize the defeat of a convergent sector, Freixa's, and an octubrist sector like Cuevillas's.

The relationship with Aliança

On the other hand, one of the issues that Junts will have to address for the upcoming municipal elections is what relationship it wants to have with the Catalan Alliance party, to which polls predict exponential growth at the expense, precisely, of the Junts members. This Monday morning Martí has left the door open to talk with the far-right party. "We are not closed to talking with anyone, except with non-democratic forces that are at the antipodes of our party," he stated in an interview with SER Catalunya. Regarding whether Aliança is a democratic force, Martí said yes. "We will see what their political program is," he added. But in the evening he ruled out an agreement with them in an interview with Betevé: "If they want to come to the City Council to do and say what the Parliament of Catalonia does and says, we will not be able to agree on anything," he snapped. Thus, he distinguished between talking to them and making an agreement with them.

Precisely, in another interview on TV3, Jordi Martí has assured that he wants to integrate "all the sensitivities" of the party into the electoral list and that he will speak with the rest of the candidates to know their "availability".