The mayorship of Ripoll, where the far-right and pro-independence Aliança Catalana party won, is still up in the air a few days after the constitution of the town councils. Hours after ERC, the PSC and the CUP announced their pact to prevent Sílvia Orriols, winner of the elections, from being the future mayoress, Junts harshly criticized the agreement, which they said they had heard about through the press, and proposed an alternative pact.
In a statement, the formation regretted that they had been excluded from the pact and that the formations that signed it had “unilaterally broken off” the negotiations. They remember that on 28-M they were the second most voted force and consider that they are “indispensable for the governability” of the municipality. “The forces that have forged this pact have belittled Junts per Ripoll, and are asking for free membership without negotiating with us”, they say. The formation indicates that it wants to lead the talks with the “central political forces” to achieve a “great pact for Ripoll”. An agreement that would not include the CUP.
The three formations that have signed the pact, ERC, the PSC and the CUP, have seven representatives, insufficient for an alternative government to be formed on Saturday that would place Chantal Pérez (ERC) as mayor.
The three parties claimed together yesterday, during their appearance before the media, their support, at least, for the investiture. “We trust in the responsibility of Junts”, affirmed the candidate of the CUP, Dani Vilaseca. “We need two votes to form a majority”, added the PSC candidate, Enric Pérez. “We ask that they trust us”, said the mayor of ERC, Chantal Pérez, who throughout his speech extended his hand to Junts to “continue to agree if they think it appropriate”. The three forces demanded a certain “quickness” from the post-convergents when making a decision that they hoped to know “the sooner the better”.
The Junts candidate, Manoli Vega, indicated on Monday in statements to La Vanguardia that all options were open, including letting Sílvia Orriols govern in a minority without ruling out presenting, when the time comes, a motion of censure. Vega, who replaced the historic Jordi Munell, winner of the last three elections in Ripoll, went from eight to three councilors, placing himself as the second force 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.
Together the press conference of ERC, the PSC and the CUP and the announcement of a tripartite agreement did not test them well, because they understand that there was tactics on their part given that the negotiations for an alternative were in course
On the controversy, which has overwhelmed the media focus especially after Laura Borràs’ message on Saturday on the subject, the former president of the Generalitat Carles Puigdemont spoke, without mentioning the specific case of Ripoll, but said that it cannot let the ultra-right rule or agree to it, because it goes against the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. Also speaking yesterday was the spokeswoman for the Government, Patrícia Plaja, who warned that “there is nothing that justifies giving way and giving air to the extreme right”.
