The Ripoll mayor’s office, where the far-right and pro-independence formation Aliança Catalana won, is still on the air a few days after the constitution of the Town Halls. Hours after the ERC, the PSC and the CUP announced their pact to prevent Sílvia Orriols, the winner of the elections, from being the future mayor, Junts strongly criticized the agreement, which she said she had heard about in the press, and proposed an alternative pact.
In a statement, the formation regretted that they have been excluded from the pact and that the formations that have signed it have “unilaterally broken off” the negotiations. They remember that on 28-M they were the second most voted force and consider that they are “essential for the governability” of the municipality.
“The forces that have forged this pact have belittled Junts por Ripoll, demanding free membership without negotiating with us,” they maintain. The formation indicates that it wants to lead the conversations with the “central political forces” to reach a “great pact for Ripoll”. An agreement that would not include the CUP.
The three formations that have signed the pact, ERC, PSC and the CUP, add up to seven representatives, insufficient for this Saturday to be able to constitute an alternative government that would place Chantal Pérez (ERC) as mayoress.
The three parties demanded Junts yesterday, during his appearance before the media, his support at least for the investiture. “We trust in the responsibility of Junts,” said the CUP candidate, Dani Vilaseca. “We need two votes to form a majority,” added the PSC candidate, Enric Pérez. “We ask that you give us your trust,” added the mayor of ERC, Chantal Pérez, who throughout her intervention extended her hand to JxCat to “continue agreeing if they think it convenient.” The three forces demanded from the post-convergents a certain “speed” in making a decision that they expected to know “as soon as possible”.
The Junts candidate, Manoli Vega, said last Monday in statements to La Vanguardia that all options were open, including allowing Sílvia Orriols to govern in a minority without ruling out, presenting, when the time came, a motion of no confidence.
Vega, who replaced the historic Jordi Munell, winner of the last three elections in Ripoll, went from eight to three councilors, ranking second behind Aliança Catalana, which obtained more than 30% of the votes and six representatives. The elections of the past 28-M left ERC with three councilors, the PSC, with two and the CUP, also with two.
In Junts, the press conference of the ERC, PSC and the CUP and the announcement of a tripartite agreement did not sit well, as they understood that there was tacticism on their part since negotiations for an alternative were underway.
The former president of the Generalitat, Carles Puigdemont, spoke about the controversy, which has attracted media attention, especially after Laura Borràs’ message last Saturday on the subject, without mentioning the specific case of Ripoll, but came to say that it cannot be let the extreme right rule or agree with them because it goes against the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The spokesperson for the Government, Patrícia Plaja, also spoke yesterday, warning that “there is nothing that justifies giving way and giving air to the extreme right.”
