It’s not about ideology

When it transpired that Gordó was under investigation for the 3% case (2) last Friday, PDECat’s secretary general Marta Pascal made it clear that the political implications meant it was time for him to step down

Esther Vera
2 min
01. Germà Gordó durant un ple del Parlament. 02. Imatge de l’agenda de Xavier Tauler.

Germà Gordó’s departure from the PDECat (1) has triggered a major crisis that will prove whether the Catalan liberal centre party has the capacity to lay down solid foundations for its reconstruction or if it will become trapped by its past. Gordó has decided to leave the new party and the JxSí parliamentary group whilst retaining his seat and thereby becoming an unaffiliated MP. Not only does his decision challenge the authority of the new party’s leadership, but it also defies former president Artur Mas. And it is not a matter of an ideological nature.

When it transpired that Gordó was under investigation for the 3% case (2) last Friday, PDECat’s secretary general Marta Pascal made it clear that the political implications meant it was time for him to step down. He has not done so. Pascal's voice is in stark contrast with the deafening silence issuing from Artur Mas. The former Catalan leader had “every faith" in Gordó’s integrity, —he was CDC’s manager between 2004 and 2011—, subsequently appointing him Government Secretary and Minister of Justice. Gordó was also the first to break with the tradition of choosing between the position of MP or government minister, and it was Gordó who appeared on JxSí’s slate during injury time.

Gordó also cropped up in the taped conversations between the former Spanish Interior Minister and the former director of the Anti-Fraud Office, who considered him a privileged interlocutor. His magnificent judicial and church connections allowed him to comfortably rub shoulders with Spain’s highest authorities. Gordó was given the brief of putting CDC’s finances in order in the post-Pujol era. His powers of persuasion were legendary, both inside and outside Convergència.

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Translator's notes:

(1) Successor to the now-defunct Convèrgencia Democràtica de Catalunya (CDC), Gordó’s former party.

(2) Relating to alleged illegal payments to CDC in return for allocating public projects.

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