Joseba Asiron, from EH Bildu, will once again be mayor of Pamplona before the end of the year. EH Bildu, the second force in the Navarrese capital, and the PSOE, third, have reached an agreement to present a motion of censure against Cristina Ibarrola, who has governed the city as a minority since June. The pact includes Geroa Bai and Contigo/Zurekin and will become effective before the end of the year, probably on December 28.
The news of a possible motion of censure against Cristina Ibarrola has been flying over the plenary hall of the Navarrese capital practically since her appointment, although with much more force since the summer. The news, however, has finished brewing recently. Cadena Ser announced it early today and sources of full solvency confirm to La Vanguardia that the agreement will be signed this morning.
The pact is possible, first of all, due to the electoral arithmetic left by the municipal elections in May. UPN once again won those elections, although by a narrow margin over EH Bildu: 9 councilors for the regionalists and 8 for the nationalist party, and less than 3,000 votes difference. Behind, the PSOE achieved 5 councilors; Geroa Bai, Basque coalition that includes the PNV, 2; the PP 2; and Contigo/Zurekin, a coalition around Podemos, a single mayor.
Throughout the month of June there were conversations between EH Bildu, the PSOE, Geroa Bai and Contigo/Zurekin to make an alternative government to UPN possible. The socialists, however, refused to invest, on the eve of a general election, the EH Bildu candidate and third avenues did not come to fruition, such as making Geroa Bai's candidate, Koldo Martinez, mayor. Cristina Ibarrola was appointed mayor of Pamplona on June 17, in the second vote, with the support of her councilors and the PP.
