A few hours before the start of the elections to the Catalan chambers, the independence candidate Eines de País-Un pas més has accused Pimec of wanting to “control” the Chamber of Barcelona by participating “actively” in the electoral campaign “far from maintaining neutrality.” ” which, he assures, a business organization should maintain. And he recalled that the employers' associations already have representation in the entity, with six members in the plenary session.
The candidate of Eines de País and current vice president of the Chamber, Toni Fitó, has reproached the employers' association chaired by Antoni Cañete for having “a certain favoritism in favor of some candidates and against others on the part of the presidency of the employers' association.” . Specifically, he criticizes that the organization has positioned itself in favor of the list headed by the former CEO of DKV Josep Santacreu. Fitó considers that the role of employers' associations and other business organizations in the elections "should be neutral", like the one Foment and FemCat have had until now.
The pro-independence list, which has not yet chosen its candidate for the presidency, and the one headed by Santacreu, with the motto "Go for Business", are fighting to obtain the majority in the Barcelona Chamber elections, elections that will be held starting tomorrow and until September 20. Eines de País, which currently governs the entity, aspires to revalidate its previous victory and continue with the work done in recent years.
In addition to reproaching Pimec for its attitude, Eines de País denounced this Thursday in a meeting with the press that some of its candidates have received "pressure" to withdraw from the electoral race, attitudes that Fitó has described as "very serious", alleging time that he has called for "fair play". The candidacy is studying taking legal measures to denounce these alleged pressures that Pimec denies.
Fitó has also regretted that the other candidate has not agreed to hold debates during the campaign, which he believes "violates the voters' right to information", and has assured that "the fear of an increase in participation" explains this strategy . The truth is that the list headed by Santandreu, who promises to depoliticize the Barcelona Chamber if he wins, has maintained a low communicative profile during the campaign.
The Eines de País candidate is confident that participation in these elections will go from 4.55% four years ago to 9%, which he believes would favor them. In the 2019 elections, Eines won 32 of the 40 representatives at stake in the votes, which guaranteed the majority in the institution's plenary session, made up of 60 members.
The pro-independence candidacy, promoted by the ANC, is running for re-election with a list that includes numbers such as the current president of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, Mònica Roca; the vice-president of the Chamber Toni Fitó; the actor Joel Joan; the founder of the operator Parlem, Ernest Pérez-Mas; the former president of ERC Joan Puigcercós, or the president of Turisme de Barcelona, Eduard Torres. For its part, Santacreu's list has the support of businessmen and managers such as Eloi Planes (Fluidra), Joan Ametller (Casa Ametller), Emili Rousaud (Factorenergia) or Juan José Brugera (Colonial).
As in previous elections, the result of the voting that begins tomorrow to choose who will govern the Chamber in the next four years is uncertain. The new president of this public law corporation has a complex election system that makes it difficult to make predictions about who will be the winner. The plenary session, which elects the president, is made up of 60 members, of which 6 are appointed by the employers' associations Foment and Pimec and 2 come from companies that make a greater financial contribution to the entity.
Individuals or legal entities that carry out commercial, industrial, service or shipping activities with registered and tax domicile within the demarcation of the Chamber of Barcelona can participate in the elections. Electronic voting, for which a qualified electronic certificate of electronic signature is required, can be exercised between September 15 and 19, while September 20 will be reserved for in-person voting at 11 polling stations.
