Daniel Sirera, elected councilor of Barcelona City Council for the PP, holds the key to governance in the city. Its four councilors can give the mayorship to the socialist candidate Jaume Collboni and leave the winner of the elections, Xavier Trias, to the opposition. His phone is on fire because of the enormous socialist pressure to prevent Barcelona from having an independent mayor. And Sirera asks them why they are scandalized if the PSC governs with the pro-independence parties in the Provincial Council from 2019.
It is curious that the issue of independence has resurfaced now when it has barely appeared in the electoral campaign. This time, the political debate has focused on a kind of plebiscite on the continuity of the mayoress, Ada Colau. In this context, Sirera promised that he would prevent the Commons from continuing in government and, for this reason, he rejects the operation proposed by the Socialists to lend his councilors to the sum of the PSC (10) and BComú (9) so that Collboni is mayor The popular people would only consider this option if the socialist candidate undertakes, in front of a notary if necessary, that he will have the votes of BComú for free and will not incorporate the Commons into the government. The problem is that the PSC knows that this requirement is unacceptable for BComú. In reality, the PP is asking for the impossible.
Therefore, Daniel Sirera can vote for himself and allow the list with the most votes (Trias) to enter the mayor’s office or accept the operation proposed by the PSC if they accept his difficult conditions. Nevertheless, the PP has made calculations and knows that, if it now participates in the socialist proposal, it will lose its decisive role this legislature because the socio-common government will not give it the ability to influence. On the other hand, if the people decide not to support Trias or Collboni, they will save themselves a valuable silver bullet that will condition the entire mandate.
I explain myself Trias and Ernest Maragall (ERC) only have 16 councillors, five less than the absolute majority and three less than the union of the PSC (10) and BComú (9). If Trias gets the mayor’s office as the most voted list, he will govern under the threat of a blockade by socialists and commoners. For this reason, the role of the PP would have a high price, because it could facilitate the governance of Trias against the Collboni-Colau bloc and, at the same time, it would become a watchdog against the pro-independence drifts of Junts and its preferred ERC partners. If this last circumstance occurs, the PP could use its silver bullet and promote a motion of no confidence with the PSC and BComú to unseat Trias. On the other hand, if the PP now facilitates the mayoralty to the socialists, they would lose the wild card of the motion of no confidence, because their four councilors added to the 16 from Junts and ERC do not reach the 21 of the majority that would allow the mayor to be removed. This role of referee or sheriff, depending on how you look at it, will only be played by Sirera if the letter of support to third parties is kept now. And to all that we have explained, we will have to see what the two Vox councilors do that can alter the alliances.
