As leader of the decimated "orange cavalry" in Catalonia, Carlos Carrizosa does not remove or install a king, but helps his lord. In this case, to his wife, Inés Arrimadas, who has a "great political capital" and "all the way" to continue leading Ciudadanos, something that, in any case, the militancy in primaries will decide. "Neither Edmundo Bal, nor Begoña Villacís, nor Francisco Igea, nor myself will decide it alone."
In the celebration of Constitution Day in Barcelona, which Ciudadanos has vindicated with a posting of posters in front of the Sant Antoni market, next to the party headquarters, the president of the formation in Catalonia has come out in the face of internal tensions in following Edmundo Bal's decision to step forward and run as the new political leader.
For Carrizosa, who has acknowledged that the "unexpected nomination" of the Ciudadanos spokesman in Congress caught him by surprise, Bal is perfectly entitled, like any other militant, to present his candidacy at the next congress in January. But he also believes that the difficulties the party is going through are not conducive to "personalisms", but that everyone should contribute to the election of a new "powerful, collegiate and transversal" leadership.
In this sense, and although he has not shown his preferences explicitly and has praised the "courage" of Bal, with whom he has "personal harmony", the Catalan leader of Ciudadanos has recalled that Arrimadas' career includes the "deed" of having won elections in Catalonia, in December 2017, and that, despite the fact that it may seem otherwise due to the political acceleration of the last three years, has never led the party's candidacy for the presidency of the Government.
In any case, Carrizosa has insisted, the different options to lead the party must be submitted to the vote of the militancy in the general assembly next January, although he has shown his confidence that between now and then, and since they are seen subjected to the "fire of the adversaries", an agreement is reached that gives way to a "joint and unitary" leadership capable of facing the challenge of the municipal elections in May.
"From Catalonia, where Ciudadanos was born, we are the ones who love this party the most," exclaimed Carrizosa, who has assured that his executive and the militancy will work to "preserve strength" now weakened. "We have an electoral fund that loves us, because nobody has represented in Catalonia what Ciudadanos has represented", she concluded.
From Madrid, on the other hand, they continue to take positions after Bal's challenge to Arrimadas. Faced with the dilemma between one and the other, Begoña Villacís has returned to demand unity and has called on both to be "in the same candidacy". But if the deputy mayor of Madrid "does not accept" having to choose, Bal himself goes ahead with his candidacy and does not consider withdrawing it despite Arrimadas's warning and the conversation they both had yesterday.
In the surroundings of Bal, according to the Efe agency, they point out that the discrepancies with Arrimadas come from a long time ago and predate the controversy over the law of only yes is yes. Among other reasons, they highlight that the parliamentary strategy in Congress was to "follow" the PP in laws such as the labor reform or the decree of the self-employed, in which Ciudadanos, according to these sources, has become a "subordinate" of the populars.
However, in statements during the celebration of the institutional acts of Constitution Day in Congress, Arrimadas herself has assured that she has been working "side by side" with Bal "for many days" in a unity candidacy, in which she proposes that neither he nor she occupy the top positions either in the organic part or in politics, and has been "convinced" that the deputy spokesperson will rectify and withdraw his candidacy.
