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The still councilor leaves the Parliament, the city council and her managerial responsibilities in Junts due to exhaustion: “It is not a political decision”
Elsa Artadi has appeared this Friday visibly moved to announce that he will not stand for the municipal elections of 2023 and that he leaves politics. The president of the municipal group of Junts per Catalunya leaves the management positions in the party, the Parliament and the Barcelona City Council “I can not anymore. I don’t have the energy to serve the citizenry, I don’t feel strong enough to continue. It is a personal decision, not a political one. I am not in a position to serve the city that I love so much & rdquor ;, she has affirmed, without further specifying what leads her to throw in the towel. Quite simply, exhaustion, inability to move on.
“We all have a moment when we say enough is enough and it has come to me. It is the only decision I can make honestly & rdquor ;, he added. Barely holding back tears, Artadi has read a statement in which he has reviewed moments of his career-“I have served three presidents of my country, thank you for your trust & rdquor ;, has said.
In principle, her place in the town hall could be occupied by Pilar Calvo, who was number seven on the 2019 list, but this has not been confirmed. The still councilor, who has been accompanied by her groupmates in the consistory but also by other members of Junts, such as the president of the Parliament, Laura Borràs, It has thus confirmed the news that was known just 12 hours ago. Artadi communicated this Thursday to his closest circle that he had decided to retire, although everything indicates that he had no intention of making it public yesterday. According to some versions, he wanted to report his decision this Friday, but he could not prevent it from being known earlier.
Change of scenery
Some of the members of that circle decided that it was better to make it known, and that has caused a totally unexpected storm, in view of the fact that the councilor participated on Wednesday in an act on insecurity in Barcelona in which nothing foreshadowed his announcement. Artadi renounces to present himself to the municipal elections that will be held on May 28, 2023, an appointment that was not easy for him.
Vice president of the party and deputy in the Parliament, her resignation comes shortly after she redoubled her commitment to continue in the city council. Artadi won the primaries to be mayor of Junts in February without any opponent presenting himself.
Less than a month ago, Artadi announced that he was no longer a spokesperson for Junts per Catalunya to focus on municipal life. The president of the post-convergence group had been stating since the beginning of her mandate that she would not leave the consistory,
Trias 2023
An affirmation that Artadi had to defend with some vehemence because it was taken for granted that he would not finish it later when the list that he headed in 2019 – formally was number two behind Joaquim Forn, symbolic mayor– only got five council members, half of those obtained by Xavier Trias in 2015, when he lost the mayor’s office at the hands of Ada Colau.
Now, in full bewilderment due to the surprise that the announcement has caused, the name of Trias returns to circulate as a possible mayor in 2023, although it is a somewhat premature speculation in view of the situation. Contrary to this option is the logic that a former mayor should not feel comfortable covering up a leak in this way. In favor, there are no other clear options in sight.
Another fact that accompanies him: that he is 76 years old is not a definitive obstacle in view of the fact that one of the candidates who apparently has options to achieve mayor in 2023 is the councilor and mayor of ERC, Ernest Maragall, who is 79.
the local opposition
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Apart from the scant expectations of an electoral victory next year, Artadi treasures three years of a difficult struggle in the city council, because the life of the municipal opposition is very hard if their votes are not essential, or at least potentially useful, for making decisions that affect day to day. And those of Junts are not. If in Colau’s first term the Trias group had some relevant role, such as agreeing with the mayor on the housing plan, in the current one its five votes have no significance.
With Barcelona en Comú and the PSC as partners of the government, and ERC supporting the most relevant decisions from the outside, Artadi was left with the bitter role of trying to get his head out with an opposition with a hard tone and little effect. An opposition as relevant, or as little, as that of Luz Guilarte, Eva Parera and Josep Bou, presidents of the groups of Ciutadans, Valents and the PP, respectively.