The so-called silver chairs of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, the committees that are occupied without going to the polls in exchange for an economic contribution, are once again the subject of controversy in the dispute over control of the institution. A few days before the deadline for presenting candidacies opened, the executive committee chaired by Mònica Roca agreed to double the minimum price per member, up to 150,000 euros per year. Result: No offer has been submitted.
The reduction of paid seats, from the initial 14 to just two, was one of the major reforms proposed by the Eines de País team in view of the new elections, which must be held in September. Their argument was that this measure reinforced the democratization of the electoral procedure, since they considered access to the plenary session by means of payment an anomaly. They were not totally eliminated, but two were left because this is the minimum established by the Spanish law on cameras.
The economic contribution has been the traditional way of entry of large companies to the plenary session of the institution. Their joint contribution was close to one million euros a year, an amount that according to Mònica Roca and other members of the executive committee is affordable, since it represents less than 2% of the budget.
But with the elections already called, the argument has turned around: prices are raised, in principle to also increase the resources available. All of this in a context of mobilization by a business group to try to win this time over the Eines de País independence option, with Josep Santacreu as candidate for the presidency.
“They have done it to avoid having two votes against at the outset,” said sources from this alternative list, whose details will be released after the candidacies have been officially announced, which is expected to happen on the 22nd. Eines de País has already announced its candidates for the 52 committees that will be elected by decree.
Another 6 will come from the list of the two big employers, Foment del Treball and Pimec, who on this occasion have wanted to send a message of unity with a joint proposal. Two vacancies will remain due to lack of interest in the two paid positions.
In the event that Josep Santacreu’s candidacy wins, it would be possible to approve a price reduction and open a new procedure to fill those two vacancies, initially with two large companies.
