“The first time I went up to the rostrum of the Parliament of Catalonia, in 2006, as a spokesperson for Citizens, I felt in each one of my cells how to, all eyes were in our party and, particularly, in me. Those days I slept little.” The day of his debut as congressman, who tells us in Together we Can, your first book (published in 2014), Albert Rivera had 27 years just turned. Now, when you are about to reach 40 and it takes 13 to lead the party —is the political leader most long-lived in office, the president of Citizens is facing its test more complicated. For the first time since his leap to national politics, his resignation has ceased to be a taboo in case of a collapse in the polls.
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Rivera: “I promise you that we will give the bell” The CIS predicts Citizens a smaller drop than the rest of the polls “Yes we can”, the central message of the Citizens to mobilize their two million undecided
The elections of 10 November are of extreme risk to Citizens. In a week, the party faces the challenge of overcoming a a result, according to the average of polls for THE COUNTRY, has suffered a drop of six points, up to 9.3% of the vote, behind Vox and United we Can. The survey of 40Db to this newspaper published on Sunday he is hopeful for a result of only 14 seats (8.3 per cent). The macrobarómetro of the Centre for Sociological Research (CIS) released this past week he blew the party something to be optimistic because it raised that forecast to almost 11% of the votes, but even taking the CIS Citizens continues to be well below their result in the month of April -57 deputies—.
In that difficult context, Rivera has already answered the first questions about whether to resign in the event that it is confirmed the polls. Your response is that it does not stick to the chair: “I Am a lawyer, I worked before the policy. There are other candidates who have not worked never. I am in politics because I am passionate about; I don’t move or the attachment to an armchair or an office, but this country. I’ve never had that attachment”. Those who know him well in the match to ensure that she is serious, and the proof is that in another time would not have answered in those terms, because not even you would have put in that scenario. But Rivera also has no intention of throwing in the towel, say sources in the direction close to the leader. “If the result is explicable, it will be. As if the party has a role in the governance of the country. The expectations are so low also not come to us so poorly, and what if we can govern?”, ask a leader to the core.
The party is a hotbed of opinions these days on what would save the furniture on the 10th of November. “Below 40 mps is a scenario serious. From 40 we begin to be comfortable. And from 32 to 57 seats fits inside of what can happen,” says a member of the permanent executive. The key is in the third position, and not lower than 11% of the votes, but any slight variation of points in that position involves a result is completely different. “Between 11% and 14% there are 20 seats in play,” indicate sources of the dome. Although the majority of leaders insist that the surveys infraestiman to the party, no one thinks as to equal the result of the past elections. “This can end up good, regular or bad. But to overcome the mark of April is unlikely,” says a baron of an autonomous region, which lowers the acceptable result: “Take between 25 and 30 seats is to save it”. The border psychological are the 32 deputies of the repeat election of 2016, up to date, your soil.
With a hypothetical defeat, Rivera has a strong position in the party: controls the direction, Citizens are fully identified with him and there is no armed internal motion against his leadership, according to all the sources consulted. “It would be absurd a scenario of confrontation, I do not think about it anymore”, says one of the leaders critical. Any situation, of course, is immutable. “His leadership is not questioned, but the results send. What is in question today because of Zidane at Real Madrid? No, but if you lose 14 games… Will open the debate”, arguing a deputy. The key, suggests a leader from the beginning in Catalonia in the match, is if the votes of Cs are decisive for the governance, and if the number of seats is down or not 20. Below this threshold you would expect an extraordinary congress. “Rivera has the right to be wrong. Do not lost Paul Married 71 seats in April? What normal would a congress extraordinary and quick boost with a regeneration of part of the executive.”
Inés Arrimadas, a spokesman parliamentarian and a central figure for a possible respite stays faithful to the leader, in public and in private, and has not given any sign of pretend a step forward. “His leadership is indisputable. Is Rivera for a while”, he emphasized two weeks ago. Rivera has returned to give much prominence in the campaign spokesperson, 38-year-old, who has just announced her first pregnancy. “Rivera has a strategic vision that is Joined to does not have. She is a very good performer, but not so good composer,” says a leading regional seat on the executive. “Citizens and Albert Rivera are inseparable,” settled John Carlos Girauta, exportavoz parliamentarian, in an interview in THE COUNTRY.
as the polls have consolidated the trend of fall are beginning to open up to the thoughts internal about what went wrong, after only six months to achieve historical results, that grazed the sorpasso for the PP, just nine mps. At the top admit that the main miscalculation was in not believing until the end that the PSOE and United We would be unable to reach an agreement and would be repeated in the elections. In the executive dominated the hypothesis that their conflicts were a negotiating strategy.
Some leaders also recognize that perhaps the electorate has not finish to understand the not to Pedro Sanchez and the offer in extremis of the abstention. Most of the strategic decisions has been taken by Rivera with a very small group. Above leadership, a leader critic notes that if the polls are right there will be a “general reflection on the strategy” in the game. On what you want to be Citizens of greater.
The campaign team of Rivera is concentrated in that half of the electorate is undecided —two million that there is still time to convince— and in your voter it always moves to the end. In addition, the candidate has not succumbed to the nerves and is in the form. The debate this Monday, is the main milestone of the campaign. Rivera has been closed without an agenda three days to prepare with the aim of achieving the comeback of Citizens of the 10-N.
