Ciutadans has decided not to stand in the general elections in July. The proximity of the elections, announced on Monday as a surprise by Pedro Sánchez, makes any attempt to correct the decline that began four years ago unfeasible. The national committee of the orange formation has chosen not to appear on 23-J, without this implying, they say, the dissolution of the formation.
The general secretary of Cs, Adrián Vázquez, justified this decision yesterday because of the current "highly polarized" political situation, in which the Spanish do not see us as a political alternative.
In view of Sunday's defeat, the movement seems like a last attempt to delay the disappearance of a brand born in Catalonia with a vocation to be the counterweight of the process, and which is now entering the sunset at the same time that Catalan sovereignty does not find direction
Yesterday, almost at the same moment that Adrián Vázquez announced the resignation of Ciutadans, the leader of the PP, from Carrer Génova, thanked them for preventing part of the right-wing vote from being lost in the momentous elections in July. The best possible description of the situation.
However, Vázquez assured that "we are not giving up. We know that there is no electoral space, but there is political space for the ideas of the liberal center (...) That is why we will work from now on an organic and intellectual rearmament that will allow us to strengthen the liberal space". These were the arguments deployed by Vázquez to maintain a thread of hope, even though his face was composed, like those of his fellow executives, and also that of the former president of the formation, Inés Arrimadas, present at the room, they didn't seem to have much faith.
The decision not to stand in the general elections adopted by the national committee of Cs was not unanimous, not by a long shot. Some leaders, in fact, did not take long to make their differences public.
This was the case of Edmundo Bal who, in addition to acknowledging "feeling ashamed", advanced a future reply: "I will not say anything yet, but I do not plan to remain silent in the face of this abuse", he warned through his Twitter account the still deputy who, in January, lost to Patricia Guasp in the primaries for party leadership.
And also that of Francisco Igea. The only surviving prosecutor of Cs in Castilla y León after the 2022 electoral crash ruled that "a political party either stands in the elections or dissolves". "And since Cs is not viable today", he continued, "what cannot be done is to hibernate, which is an innovative concept in politics, to be able to hold the resources for another call to the Europeans or whenever ".
Igea proposed to the national committee of his still party the construction of a political alternative in the form of a "platform" that accommodates both those who have passed through the party and those who want to join it now to regain the vote or the intelligence intelligence". Although, recalling other expulsions executed from the leadership of the party, he regretted that his proposal was not even debated in the orange committee.
As long as there are no more contestations, or possible loss of militancy, what remains of Ciutadans intends to hold a "great national meeting of the liberal center space" in July in which the next steps to be taken by the party will be determined.
Sources from the leadership specify off-camera that the most urgent thing is to "give shape" to a party that continues to represent the "liberal center", but "with other elements". Although at no time did they dare to put a deadline on the return to the electoral arena. Not even a year from now, when, in June 2024, the parliamentary elections will be held.
