The ghost of the postponement of the Barça presidential elections on 24 January is becoming more and more real. A few days before this Friday’s meeting between representatives of the club’s management board and the territorial plan for civil protection of Catalonia (Procicat), members of Barça’s provisional board of directors admit that they consider it “very difficult” for the date to be keep. Sources consulted by ARA explain that the fate of the elections would be closely linked to that of the elections to the Parliament of Catalonia: “If these are postponed, so will Barça. The data we have on contagion does not invite optimism. Right now, it seems very difficult for the date to be January 24: it will surely change “, they confess from the government of the Generalitat.
At the club they anticipate that, if it is postponed, no elections could be held until March
Barça, therefore, would face a scenario never seen before, as for reasons of force majeure the management board would remain in power longer than expected. “If they are postponed, the elections may not be held until March,” said sources in this interim board. A situation that would completely change the strategy of the election candidates. Ahead of Friday’s meeting, the four pre-candidates with options to pass the cut are positioned. Joan Laporta, the pre-candidate who presented the most signatures, insisted yesterday that the date of January 24 should not be touched and sent a letter to Carles Tusquets to “meet urgently” and assure, “strengthening security measures ”, The viability of the elections on the established date. Víctor Font, for his part, has asked the manager to provide solutions to try to save the elections, and has admitted that he is not very optimistic because “too much time has been lost to have an alternative ready”. On the other hand, Toni Freixa maintains his position of respecting what the electoral board decides, while Emili Rousaud, who during the collection of signatures had already asked to postpone the process, asked yesterday that “the elections be suspended”.
Tusquets will rule until a vote can be taken
Laporta refuses to postpone the elections
Laporta defended maintaining this date, arguing that “a country that can go to work is a country that must be able to go to the polls.” “Barça can’t wait any longer. We are missing out on golden opportunities, both in terms of the winter market and to implement a shock plan to start reversing the economic situation: the accounts for the 2019-20 academic year have not been approved, nor is there a budget for in the current academic year, 2020-21, validated by the assembly “, he added. In addition, the former president considers that “postponing the elections, at the moment when the club is, would have irreversible consequences. This misgovernment can no longer be allowed. There are no objective reasons of any kind that do not advise holding elections. I am convinced that the public authorities will decide to celebrate them. With security measures, with ten different polling stations, spread across several cities, to facilitate participation. And, if necessary, you could even vote for two or three different days.
Font calls for solutions to organize “the best possible elections”
Víctor Font, his great rival, with almost 5,000 signatures of support, called for solutions to organize the best possible elections and recalled that he was the only pre-candidate who had already asked by letter on November 10 to vote electronic to avoid problems like the current ones. Font is in favor of ensuring maximum participation and security and would therefore agree to postpone the elections if there is no other remedy. “The club should provide solutions to ensure the vote of the members in two weeks. Many partners cannot vote. We are talking about the most important elections due to the serious situation of the club and, as we have them now, few members could vote. That can’t be, “he said. Font recalled that his team, “knowing that we were in a pandemic”, had already asked “that homework be done sooner”. “Nothing has been done and, in addition to having a new board of directors, there is the fact that all members who want to vote can do so safely.”
In turn, Rousaud, who has the prestigious doctor Miquel Llobet in his candidacy, justified his position of suspending the elections. “In a conventional election we vote at home. Here, a gentleman from Puigcerdà has to go to Girona. We are forcing mass travel that will produce unnecessary contacts between partners, many of whom are large, as the average is 58 years.
Report of irregularities
In fact, Font complained about the entire electoral system of the club and denounced that after the first day of validation of signatures of pre-candidates, specifically with those of Laporta, “the Electoral Board is not complying with the established validation protocol. While the articles of association oblige us to state in an essential way the number of members in each ticket to be considered valid, we have found that a considerable number of tickets given as valid today [per ahir] either they didn’t have the membership number or they had a very old one ”.
The candidacy of Sí al Futur has raised this claim to the electoral board, “but it has not been met, because it has considered that the number of members was not essential and that what is needed, above all, is to encourage participation.” In addition, the request of Font’s pre-candidacy to send an e-mail to each member to validate that, in fact, he had given the support contained in the ballot would not have been met.
Toni Freixa, for his part, defended that “the club’s reputation must be above any electoral battle that harms the national and international image of the club”, while Rousaud criticized the “noise” of social networks .
Demonstration of Laporta’s strength with more than 10,000 signatures
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