The PSC is left without mayors in Ripoll

BarcelonaThe PSC has had two mayors in Ripoll since the recovery of democratic municipalities. Pere Jordi Piella was the first mayor after Francoism and held the position from 1979 to 1993. Jaume Camps took over from 1993 to 1995. Neither of them, however, is currently a member of the PSC. The first left in 2017, but not because of the Procés, but in disagreement with the PSOE's decision to abstain to allow Mariano Rajoy to be sworn in as president in 2016. The second has now resigned after the forced departure of the two socialist councilors who also abstained, but in this case so that the mayor, Sílvia Orriols, could approve the budgets and not have to revive a vote of confidence doomed to failure.

In conversation with ARA, Camps confirms that he has left the party where he had been a member for forty years and which he represented for 26 years in the City Council in two periods, from 1983 to 2003 and from 2007 to 2013. The former mayor defends the actions of the two councilors, Enric Pérez and Anna-Belén Avilés, who do remain as members, and criticizes the party leadership: "They wanted to avoid the media circus of a year ago and prevent Aliança from playing the victim again because the budgets would have been approved anyway, but the leadership has not respected municipal autonomy and has treated Ripoll as if it were a branch of Baix Llobregat." In this regard, he regrets that after "so many years of fighting in Indian territory to keep the PSC banner flying," especially during the Pujol era, the Procés, or with the application of Article 155, that "everything ends up like this is very sad." And furthermore, he emphasizes, when the cordon sanitaire against the far-right party has not worked: "Junts has ruined it twice by backing down at the last moment for Orriols to reach and maintain the mayoralty."

That the other members of the candidacy have not wanted to replace the two councilors demonstrates, in their opinion, that they also disagree with the decision of the leadership: "Joining a list is normally an adherence to the candidate and here in Ripoll it has been demonstrated. The PSC has burned the territory and now let's see if they find people to make a list." What the leadership has not yet found are the substitutes for the two councilors, as admit sources from the PSC federation in the Girona regions, who confirm contacts with people from Ripoll, but also from the region. Be that as it may, today in the plenary session the two seats that the socialist representatives occupied until now will be empty. "It is an image to remember," exclaims Camps. And he concludes: "The councilor is appointed by the people, not by the first secretary of a party".