The councilwoman who does not want to make the candidate of her party mayor

BarcelonaEarthquake in L'Ametlla de Mar. Junts and the PSC had agreed to share the mayoralty after ousting ERC from the municipal government with a pact between the two formations after the elections. The Junts had obtained five councilors, the same as the Republicans, but the Socialists (2) elected the former and entered the executive. The quid pro quo was that the PSC would assume the mayoralty at the end of the term. So far, so normal. What is not so usual is that the socialist councilor does not want to elect her party's lead candidate now. And this has led to a crisis not only within the PSC, but it has reached the government itself and could lead to an unplanned handover of the mayoralty.

The ERC councilors, the PSC councilor who was to be mayor, and the Comuns councilor have called a press conference this Wednesday where they will announce an agreement to promote a motion of censure that will return the mayoralty to the Republican Jordi Gaseni. "Your senseless way of governing has hit rock bottom, and now it's time to step aside," the senator had already warned on Monday during the last plenary session. But how did we get here?

The Socialist Xavier de la Fuente, first deputy mayor and who was to be the new mayor, announced precisely on Monday that he was leaving the government and moving to the opposition. De la Fuente had requested that the resignation of the Junts mayor Eva del Amo be formalized to comply with the investiture pact and carry out the handover of the mayoralty between Junts and PSC on April 17. Del Amo reiterated that before that, the PSC had to guarantee the majority because the socialist councilor Ana Aragón refuses to elect him. "There are serious problems of breakdown that make it impossible to carry out this handover for now," insisted the mayor, who reiterated that Junts' votes "are at the disposal of the PSC".

Words that did not convince De la Fuente, who blamed Junts for wanting to cling to the mayoralty to justify his departure: "This decision responds to a lack of word and the flagrant breach of commitments made by Junts and by a councilor from my own party who has decided to betray the trust placed in her and align herself with those who have broken the government pact." The socialist spokesperson recalled that the open assembly of party militants held on Saturday agreed to demand the execution of the investiture agreements and urged his party colleague to hand over her councilor's seat due to her refusal to make him mayor.

Recordings of private conversations

In conversation with ARA, Aragón makes it clear that the problem is not the PSC, but its spokesperson. "I want the PSC to take over the mayor's office, but I don't want to give it to a disloyal person who has been in conversation with the opposition for a year and speaks ill of their partners and who has slowed down aid or has let important calls go by to prevent the government from taking the credit". He also accuses her of recording private conversations between the two without his consent, a fact that has led to legal action.

Despite the pressure from the PSC federation of Terres de l'Ebre to invest him, Aragón has not backed down. "You cannot put someone at the head of a town hall who, from within, has contributed to weakening it," he states. He also points out that she does not want to be the new mayor under any circumstances: "Let the spokesperson resign and the next person on the list who enters be the mayor".

Mayor Eva del Amo does not hide her displeasure at the PSC spokesperson's decision to leave the executive. "It is the PSC that has not fulfilled the pact. There are still days left until April 17, a date that also does not have to be immutable, and I think it is a hasty decision," the mayor pointed out during the plenary session, in which she made herself available to the PSC if there was any way to resolve their internal problems. The socialist councilor, whom the party accuses of being a turncoat, considers that this latest move by her spokesperson is the final blow to the current government.