I doubt he will agree

At a meeting in Bigastro yesterday, the Partido Popular set out a motion urging the socialist leaders in Bigastro, Rafal, Los Montesinos and Benferri to withdraw from the electoral lists. They say that this move would  help cut corruption in politics and pave the way to a democratic regeneration.

Here in Bigastro for example, Raúl Valerio is facing seven allegations against him, some of which are serious. It will be up to him and his party to decide whether or not he stands for re-election this year but clearly Charo Bañuls believes he should not. This is of course, pure electioneering on the part of the regional PP and an attempt to cast a slur on the socialists in those towns. Whether it will work or not remains to be seen.

Obviously each party wants to put forward candidates that they think will win votes. If the PSOE decides that Raúl Valerio Medina’s reputation would damage their chances just as the PP decided that Aurelio Murcia was not their best candidate last time, they could well drop him in favour of others on their list. However, putting forward a candidate at the top of the list who is unknown could be equally risky for them. 

Since we don’t have polls before council elections, it is hard to say which party is the current front runner for the forthcoming election in Bigastro. Will the allegations made against the two previous socialist mayors be sufficient to ward off a return to socialism? Have the PP done enough over the four years to convince the electorate to increase their number of seats and thus give them a majority? Can Aurelio Murcia convince bigastrenses that he should continue with his Liberal Party and possibly increase the number of seats? 

Like in any election, the party in power (PP) will set out to show that they have succeeded in improving the situation in the town during their mandate. The PP’s hope is that people will be sufficiently convinced to allow them to continue with their plans. The main opposition (Socialists) will undoubtedly attempt to discredit the achievements of the current ruling party. Then there are the fringe parties; the Greens, the United Left and the Liberals who will try to show that there is a better way for the town than either of the main parties are proposing. Who knows, we may even see Podemos fielding candidates.