Edmundo Bal: "I will continue as a faithful squire of Arrimadas, I will not appear in Madrid and I will never go on a PP list"

He trusts that a "new political party" will come out of the process of refounding Cs but they still do not know if they will change the name

MADRID, 28 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The deputy secretary general of Ciudadanos, Edmundo Bal, guarantees his full support for the president, Inés Arrimadas, of whom he has said that he will continue to be her "faithful squire", and limits his role in the party to his work as a deputy in Congress, refusing to stand again as a candidate for the elections for the Community of Madrid. In this context, he assures that he would "never" appear on a PP electoral list.

The also deputy spokesman for the 'orange' formation in the Lower House has granted an interview to Europa Press in which he has alluded to the issue of the leadership of Ciudadanos, questioned by the sum of the latest electoral debacles and by the process of refoundation launched to reverse the current situation.

The deputy secretary general has acknowledged that he likes to be referred to as "faithful squire" of Arrimadas. "It is what I am, indeed", he has congratulated him, before emphasizing her "commitment to her" with her. "I promised her that I would be with her and I will keep my promise," he added, emphasizing that if he has any virtue, it is her "loyalty."

Questioned about the way in which the 'orange' leader faces this stage, Bal lamented that "everyone takes it for granted that she is going to leave him", but has stressed that "hopefully not". In this sense, he has downplayed some recent statements in which Arrimadas pointed out that she was more focused on reconciling than on the party.

"Inés is very keen, she has a lot of strength, I see Inés with a lot of confidence, the same that I myself put on the table, in the renewal process", of a political party that, according to the deputy secretary general, can exploit a political space that "exists" and that voters demand.

Of the process, Bal, who considers the state of Ciudadanos "necessarily reversible", explained that the group in charge of renewing the party must present its conclusions, also related to the presidency of the party, to the Executive, which is the one that You have to make decisions based on them.

Once there, the revalidation of the leadership of Inés Arrimadas will take place, whose mechanism is provided for in the Citizens' statutes, or a new leader will be elected. There is, however, no date for the presentation of these results, although the deputy secretary general points to before the end of 2022.

"We are at a point (of the refoundation process) in which we are going to define that date, which will surely be before the end of the year, to be prepared for the local and regional elections," he indicated.

The process of refounding Ciudadanos seeks to turn the party "upside down" and "question everything," according to its leaders. One of the aspects that arouses the most interest is the possible change of name, logo or color.

Bal points to the formation of a "new political product, a new political party", although the decision on a possible change of name, logo or color has not yet been made. It is the members of the refounding group --known as the G-8--, advised by experts, who must decide on the issue, and affiliates and sympathizers can contribute their opinions on the matter.

"Will we continue to call ourselves Citizens? We don't know," clarifies the deputy spokesman for Citizens, who insists that the refoundation "is in progress."

However, he has been convinced that the electorate will be able to absorb these changes, if they occur, in view of the elections in May 2023. "It has to arrive in time for us to face the elections in a position to transmit citizens this new party, refounded, with clear ideas".

On the other hand, and given the information that points to the existence of "internal fissures" in the party before the refoundation process, Bal has denied that such disagreements exist. "Those fissures that I have heard in the press I do not see", he has indicated, although he has recognized the existence of "critical" positions. "But that's how progress is made," he added, denying that the party is "in decomposition."

In this line, the deputy secretary general of Ciudadanos has alluded to the trickle of casualties of the formation, the most recent those of the former deputy of the European Parliament Luis Garicano and the former vice president of the Community of Madrid, Ignacio Aguado, which he has downplayed .

Of the second, he stressed that it is a person who "has been out of politics for more than a year", although he has made it ugly that he has left the 'orange' formation "slamming the door". "If at a certain moment this project disappoints me, I assure you, I swear, it is that I would never leave this game in this way", he guaranteed.

During the interview, Bal has denied that he is going to stand again as a candidate for the elections of the Community of Madrid, after the crash in the early elections of May 2021.

According to the deputy spokesman in Congress, it is in September when the candidate election processes begin. "Of course, it is not in my head to stand for election in Madrid," he said, before specifying that his role is in the Lower House, a job that "he enjoys very much."

Regarding the possible names, the party, for the moment, is not in a position to give any. The Madrid coordinator, Begoña Villacís, will be in charge of proposing a name. The party's national executive approves it or not.

Asked about the possibility that the PP will test some of its most recognizable figures for future elections, Bal has stated that he does not believe that "nobody" from Ciudadanos will change to the 'popular' ones, and he "never". Nor Villacís, one of the last recognizable faces of the 'orange' formation.

"She is the coordinator of the refoundation team, no one has more relevance within our party in the sense of this revitalization reform process. It seems to me absolutely unlikely that Begoña or that anyone is going to leave," he said.

"Those who had to leave have already left and those of us who have stayed have stayed to pull the car forward with great force and with great conviction, putting all our energy and talent to make this match an attractive match for the voter," he specified.

In this context, he has also attacked the PP, of which he has said that during the time of Pablo Casado and Teodoro García Egea he has behaved "completely unfair" with Ciudadanos, on account of the local pacts after the 2019 elections.

"The fact of giving the four autonomous communities where we governed the Presidency to the PP with the possibility of dissolving the parliamentary assemblies in advance led to the PP behaving with us in a completely unfair way", he lamented, before specifying that, however , in Ciudadanos they have done "a lot of self-criticism".