The two pre-candidates to preside over the Cercle d’Economia, Jaume Guardiola and Rosa Cañadas, met yesterday at the organization’s headquarters in Barcelona to agree on some fringes of the unprecedented elections on July 12. Cañadas proposed that the membership census be closed (close to 1,300) and that new registrations with the right to vote not be accepted. Guardiola’s candidacy will accept what the board chaired by Javier Faus decides on Thursday.
The pre-candidate fears an unusual and high number of new hires as has happened in the last board meetings where the entry of partners is approved. The fear is that through the arrival of these new partners, the balance of votes between the two people who choose to lead the most important economic pressure group in Spain could be broken. In yesterday’s meeting, in addition to the two pre-candidates, the legal advisers of Cañadas and those of the Cercle d’Economia were present. Guardiola was alone.
All the requests that were made yesterday must be approved by the Cercle’s board of directors, which will meet tomorrow, Thursday. Guardiola, who is a member of the board of directors, plans to present his resignation before this meeting, in which the electoral race in which he will participate will be discussed.
Another of the Cañadas requests that were discussed at yesterday’s meeting and that must be validated by the current directors is the creation of a single form or form to collect the necessary endorsements in order to make the candidacy official. Guardiola will also accept what the lawyers say and validate the meeting.
What is intended is that the process of collecting guarantees starts this week once the directors give the go-ahead to the format that will be followed. The current president, Javier Faus, plans to propose tomorrow that the elections be held on July 12.
It will be the first time that more than one candidate will attend this relevant socioeconomic forum in Barcelona.
The electoral regulation, which is part of the entity’s statutes, establishes that at least two months before the expiration of the three-year mandate, on July 24 in this case, the elections must be called.
After Cañadas’ requests, the board initially opted to create a “legal commission” that would be in charge of clarifying the doubts prior to the formal call for elections, chaired by Faus himself.
The statutes dedicate less than two lines to regulate the elections: “Any partner can be represented in the general assembly by another partner. This representation must be conferred in writing and on a special basis for each meeting”. Until now, the vast majority did not attend the assembly in which the new president was voted on.
The statutes of the Cercle d’Economia were approved in 2011, when its president was José Manuel Lara, president of Planeta; long after its foundation, in 1958, and its legalization, ten years later.
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