The Cs spokesman, Edmundo Bal, during his appearance before the media, this Friday in Congress. Gustavo Valiente (Europa Press)
The rupture between Edmundo Bal, parliamentary spokesman for Ciudadanos, and the president of the formation, Inés Arrimadas, has reached its peak this Friday.
What was an open secret this week has materialized during the open day in Congress.
Bal has confirmed, in an appearance in front of the gate of the Lions, that he will compete in the primaries to lead the formation that arises "from the refounding process" that began five months ago.
"I want to lead this project and I want to lead this assembly that we have for mid-January to come out stronger," Bal told the media.
The formation celebrates between January 9 and 10 internal elections for political spokesperson and general secretary in a joint ballot,
after a strong discussion within the executive for the new management model.
The internal anger has broken the party into two, those who are on Bal's side and those who support Arrimadas, who at the moment does not want to confirm if he will face his parliamentary group mate.
“
No one escapes that our party is going through difficult times.
The polls say so every day, but nevertheless we are part of a political space that is absolutely essential for our country”, continued Bal, who is strong and supported by the party to win the victory.
For now, he has the support of the majority of the parliamentary group in Congress, such as deputies María Carmen García, María Muñoz, Sara Giménez and Juan Ignacio López-Bas.
Only Guillermo Díaz remains staunchly loyal to Arrimadas.
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The still president of Cs, who had received just a couple of hours before the citizens who have visited Congress, found out this Friday morning that Bal was going to take the step today.
It was her own spokesperson who called her on the phone to advance her candidacy.
“I have told him that this is a game for everyone.
That it is a decision that I have meditated a lot, very calmly ”, Bal has recounted.
Arrimadas has asked her to have a coffee to address the situation before she appears.
"She did not expect it today," say parliamentary sources.
The spokesman has declined the invitation and has asked that the meeting take place after the appearance.
To silence the rumors of distancing, Ciudadanos published this Thursday a photo of the parliamentary group watching the national team match together.
But the reality is quite different:
The divorce of both leaders has been tensing the parliamentary group for days due to the power struggle and the taking of positions.
The faces of the technicians who accompany the Cs deputies in the corridors every day were a poem this Friday.
Outside of Congress, the division within the executive became more acute last week during the drafting of the presentation of the statutes that the refoundation assembly has to ratify between January 13 and 15.
There were two models and also two factions: the one created around Inés Arrimadas, which initially proposed a two-headed party with two leaders: one political and the other organic.
A case in which she intended to continue as political head until the fall, when primaries for a candidate for the Presidency of Congress were held.
And another faction that was flatly opposed to that formula, among which were Bal and the attorney Francisco Igea, who demanded to vote and also the name of the political spokesman.
The pressure caused the transfer of Arrimadas when he saw himself entrenched and the fall of her armor.
Finally, it was agreed
The spokesman has decided to take the right step at this time to prevent the re-founding process from being labeled as a "flight forward" or "smoke screen", in addition to the fact that "he couldn't take it anymore with the rumours", according to his entourage. .
The party began a "listening process" five months ago, in which both organic officials and militants have given their opinion on the solutions to get out of the deep quagmire.
"The opinions that come out of this listening process are reflected in a document that this morning, in part, has appeared in some media", has
explained Bal, in reference to information revealed by EL PAÍS in which it is revealed that the model championed by Arrimadas was not the one chosen mainly among the bases.
Question about the party model.
The spokesman aspires to "attract more people" for his project outside the lower house.
At the moment it is unknown who will be his partner in the primary ballot to opt for the position of secretary general.
In any case, it could not be a leader who holds a public position, as the statutes are drafted right now, unless that requirement is withdrawn by means of an affiliation amendment.
In such a case, Igea could be in that combo.
“We have great political assets in our party that I want them to be with me on this journey towards the assembly and towards turning Ciudadanos into that attractive liberal and progressive political party that will run in the elections in 2023”, added Bal.
The spokesman was signed for Ciudadanos by Albert Rivera in 2019 to occupy fourth place on the list for Madrid in the general elections of that year.
The signing was possible after Bal, who directed the Government's legal action for 16 years in cases such as that of the Pujols, the
process
and the Gürtel, was relieved by the Government of Pedro Sánchez last November as head of the criminal department of the State Attorney for "loss of confidence" due to their discrepancies in the 1-O case.
In addition, he was the Ciudadanos candidate for the Madrid Assembly in May 2021, when the party went from 26 seats to 0 in the Autonomous Chamber.
One of the many electoral debacles that the party has been chaining since November 2019 and that, after the last fiasco in Andalusia, caused Arrimadas to start the refoundation of the party.
Now Bal wants to get out of this process as the leader of that new Ciudadanos.