The mayoress of Barcelona, Ada Colau, and the socialist leader in the Consistory, Jaume Collboni, who these days is spending his last hours as first deputy mayor and councilor, met yesterday to lay the foundations for the difficult coexistence that commoners and socialists want hold until the May 28 elections.
The reassignment of the powers that the mayor of the PSC has to date is being the first test of the nine of this new stage in the relationship between both partners of the municipal government, which is not exactly going through its best moment. Although both parties remain committed to altering the normal functioning of the institution as little as possible, the differences will surface, except for an unlikely last-minute agreement, in the municipal plenary session to be held tomorrow, the last one in which Collboni will participate. before dedicating himself exclusively to preparing his assault on the mayoralty in four months.
Colau and Collboni had held some conversations since last Monday the socialist leader informed them of his decision to leave the government and, at the same time, the PSC's intention to continue within the government, but it was not until yesterday that they met in the office of the mayoress, in a meeting that lasted about three quarters of an hour, cordial but not exempt from a certain tension and mutual reproaches.
The will of the mayoress and her still first lieutenant is that the blood does not reach the river, to avoid a full-fledged rupture that would not benefit either of them due to institutional responsibility.
The discussion on the distribution of powers that until now fell to Jaume Collboni –especially those in the economic area– is on track but not definitively closed.
The first proposal by Deputy Mayor Jordi Martí that these powers be divided between himself, in his capacity as budget manager, and the Councilor for Commerce, the socialist Montserrat Ballarín, was not accepted by the PSC, which is not willing to give up anything that it assumed when the government agreement was signed.
The option for the third deputy mayor, the socialist Laia Bonet, to occupy the rank of number two on the City Council held by Jaume Collboni, has also been deflated. The Socialists will not present a battle on this issue.
This being the case, everything seems to point to a tacit agreement for the PSC to retain those powers with the slightest modification to the municipal government organization chart. However, the Socialists want to wait to see the letter of the mayoral decree that will consecrate the new structure before giving their approval.
The possibility of leaving the first mayoral tenure vacant during the time remaining for the elections is on the table of the City Council's legal services, which should point out if this situation is unusual, but very rational given that the municipal mandate is already in their death throes
