Edmundo Bal presents his list to the Ciudadanos primaries and deepens the crisis with Arrimadas

From left to right, the deputy of Cs María del Carmen Martínez;

the Madrid councilor Santiago Saura;

the spokesman in Congress, Edmundo Bal, and the deputy Sara Giménez;

in the background, the deputy Miguel Gutiérrez. Eduardo Parra (Europa Press)

The schism between Inés Arrimadas and Edmundo Bal in Ciudadanos has been consummated this Wednesday.

Barely an hour after sharing the control session in the chamber, sitting side by side in their seats, the parliamentary spokesman has left the Chamber to appear before the media, in front of the lions of Congress, and present his candidacy for the primaries of match to be held on January 9 and 10.

“We head this candidacy with the intention of making Ciudadanos a renewed vehicle in central Spain, as a liberal and progressive party

It is about this being a real renovation, without theatrics, without cosmetics, without make-up”, Bal affirmed, in a veiled criticism of Arrimadas and flanked by the leaders that make up his list.

The spokesman will face the candidacy —still unknown— of which the current president will form part (without leading it).

Bal has recruited Madrid City Councilor Santiago Saura for his team.

The mayor aspires to the second most important position of the future executive – that of secretary general, who will be in charge of the organic leg of the party after the re-founding assembly scheduled between January 13 and 15.

The signing of Saura is a blow to the deputy mayor of Madrid, Begoña Villacís, who has openly opposed Bal's candidacy and has worked on an alternative path of unity.

Saura, responsible for the Internationalization and Cooperation area of ​​the City Council, was number two on the list for the municipal elections in May 2019 with Villacís and appointed deputy spokesperson by order of the vice mayor.

The tandem with the councilor in turn reflects Bal's intentions to escape the label of a "right-wing" party and adopt a broader profile with which to agree "on both sides".

"Our project is the project of not being subordinate to any other political option", has influenced the parliamentarian.

Bal is also supported by practically the entire Ciudadanos parliamentary group in Congress: five deputies have expressed their support, compared to only one who remains loyal to Arrimadas and another who remains neutral.

The deputies María del Carmen Martínez and Sara Giménez, members of the list presented today, aspire to the positions of general coordinator and general deputy secretary, respectively.

Bal also has the support of deputies Miguel Gutiérrez and Juan Ignacio López-Bas.

And with that of José María Espejo-Saavedra, who has not been at the presentation of the candidacy but has shown his support on social networks.

Also on Bal's side is the only senator from the party, Miguel Sánchez;

the attorney in the Cortes of Castilla y Léon, Francisco Igea;

Deputy López-Bas himself was in charge of negotiating this Tuesday, in a last attempt, with David Martínez, Arrimadas' chief of staff, a candidacy for unity.

In that conversation, according to Bal's version, her team stepped back from her aspirations and offered the president to join the list while she kept her position as spokesperson in Congress.

She declined the proposal.

regain focus

The environment of Arrimadas makes Bal ugly because he has intensified the struggle for internal leadership just this Wednesday, in full parliamentary confrontation with the Government over the reform of the Penal Code agreed with ERC to benefit those accused of the

.

"You will not find me this week, which is the worst week in the Pedro Sánchez government, dedicated to criticizing what has been my right hand until recently," the president censured on Tuesday.

Sources around Arrimadas do not understand how Bal has presented his candidacy today, when the party had the possibility of recovering "focus" thanks to the offensive against the Government.

“This is our theme”, these sources affect the debate around the reform of sedition and embezzlement.

In this sense, and during her questioning of Minister Félix Bolaños, Arrimadas has once again reiterated the discourse used by Cs in Catalonia in 2017 and which catapulted them at the national level.

The list that will "close" Arrimadas will be announced in the coming days.

This being the case, the possibility of a unity candidacy practically disappears, and the fracture of the parliamentary group will have to be resolved after January.

It remains up in the air who will occupy the spokesperson after the war in the party primaries.