Albiol sees the motion of censure “tremendously unfair” and challenges the opposition at the polls

Next November 8 Xavier Garcia Albiol must hand over the command staff. The opposition has registered this Friday the motion of censure that will take the socialist Ruben Guijarro to the mayor of Badalona, ​​an operation orchestrated after uncovering the ‘Pandora Papers’ that reveal that the popular received a general power of attorney from a company in Belize, a small tax haven. The motion will go forward because the PP has 11 councilors and the opposition adds 16: the PSC, has six councilors; Guanyem Badalona En Comú, four; ERC, three; Badalona En Comú Podem, two; and Junts, one.

Albiol has avoided the spotlights until this Friday, he has walked through several neighborhoods of the city without a previous note on the agenda since October 13, but today he has decided to break the silence publicly and stop protecting himself on social networks, although he has not accepted questions from journalists.

Clothed in by four of his councilors – his right hand was not among them, Ramon Riera, also sprinkled by journalistic information–, the still mayor has admitted that this has been the “most difficult” press conference in his “political life” due to a question “especially emotional”: “From the suffering, I have to say that if someone believes that in the medium term they will continue to earn in the offices what they do not earn at the polls, it is because they do not know this city and they do not know me, “he blurted out, interrupting his speech when he got emotional. Now, he defended that the power of society in Belize “was legal and would continue to be so today”.

The popular has charged against the opposition, whom he has accused of operating with his back to Badalona, ​​and has assured that the five parties that promote the motion “do not have the confidence of the neighbors, city project or future horizon”. “What is happening seems tremendously unfair to me”, has sentenced, challenging the municipal groups to see themselves at the polls, where he predicts that he will regain the leadership stick in 2023.

“Badalona has many virtues, a great capacity and many possibilities, but our city has a great problem. The great tragedy is the disconnection and distancing of opposition parties with the real and majority sentiment of the neighbors,” he concluded, stating that his project has support “to the left and right” and this is demonstrated by his three consecutive electoral victories.

The government, the unknown

Groups outside the municipal government have managed to overcome their crossed vetoes to unite to unseat the mayor, with the question still of whether they will be able to forge a unitary government under the leadership of the PSC. We win Badalona En Comú, who had ruled out entering the government, is not excluded now.

The party councilor, Carme martinez, has expressed its “full and absolute disposition” to build a “strong government” and has said “have no doubts” that they will be able to regain trust with the PSC, which was damaged by not respecting a pre-agreement agreed to configure the new municipal board . “This strong government can both be guaranteed with an agreement to be inside or outside, but we are not saying not to enter,” he said. From the party they emphasize that, although they do not enter the government, they are willing to support the budgets and guarantee governance to turn the page to the Albiol stage.

Related news

For his part, Guijarro has said that he maintains the will to forge a broad and unity government, “with all those who want Badalona not to be plunged into this media circus due to the non-exemplary action of the mayor” and has reproached Albiol for has not resigned, something that thinks that it would have “dignified” the city.