Gloves Off: Dissent in the PP

Not unexpectedly the gloves have come off. The divisions in the Partido Popular in the Balearics have been laid bare by the party's dissenter-in-chief Antoni Pastor. The gathering for a press conference of the mayor of Manacor and leaders from all other parties in the town displayed a most unusual unity of right and left as Pastor led the attack on the linguistic policies of President Bauzá.

It has been coming of course. It's just that it has arrived some eighteen months after the fracture within the party caused by language and attitudes towards regionalism became evident. Pastor insists that his stance, in particular the rejection of the regional government's removal of Catalan speaking as being a pre-requisite for employment in the public sector, is nothing personal and is not aimed at any specific individual. He would say this, though. There are two people at whom this is all aimed: President Bauzá and the architect of the drive to "castellanizar" the Balearics and of anti-regionalism, Carlos Delgado.

On Monday there is to be a meeting in Binissalem of the party's regional directive. Pastor is banking on getting support from important figures within the party, and it is being admitted that the euphoria surrounding the PP's victory at the regional election in May last year has all but evaporated as concern grows regarding Bauzá's leadership.

And leadership could well be the key to the disaffection. If there were to be a leadership challenge to Bauzá, where might it come from? Manacor in all likelihood.

Why, though, is this all coming to the surface now? One reason is that changes to language law run counter to what was once agreed as policy by the PP at a party congress. Delgado, who lost the argument then, is said to be behind a redefinition of the local party's ideology. But why should there be any surprise? It was clear before the regional election that the party was heading in a particular direction, and plenty within the party, including Pastor, were happy enough to stand for election.

To me, none of this comes as a surprise. It was clear in 2010 that there were divisions and that it was simply a matter of time, once the election was won, that they came into the open.

A problem for Pastor and for other dissenters is that there are more important issues that should be concerning the party and therefore the government. Fighting battles over language policy may not sit well with the public who would rather energies were devoted to tackling the economy. There again, the same could be said for Bauzá and Delgado.

The handling of the economy has not been raised by the dissenters, but after some seven months in office, what has Bauzá achieved? Other than to pursue cost-cutting, very little. In terms of stimulating the local economy, the government has put all its eggs into the one basket of tourism law reforms. But, with the obvious exception of the hoteliers, pretty much any organisation that matters, plus the likes of Palma town hall, has voiced objections to the law.

It says something for the democratic process that the law is open to challenges and to suggestions, but it also says something about the draft itself and quite possibly about attitudes towards its architect. It is, after all, Delgado's law. Were the law enjoying something like smooth passage towards being adopted and were there some indication that the government had any other notion as to how to get the economy going, then dissent of a linguistic nature would seem petty.

The lack of economic initiative and the arguments over language notwithstanding, Pastor and those who might support him run a great risk. It is one of being styled as being out of date. Bauzá has himself been styled as conducting an experiment in the Balearics, one that is more in tune with circumstances as they now exist, and one such circumstance is the degree to which regionalism, as it is currently practised, is sustainable.

Furthermore, Bauzá has sought, and largely achieved, a transformation of the PP. He has gone to great lengths to make sure the party is clean and that its image is not tarnished by the corruption of the past. In challenging the new broom, therefore, his opponents run the risk of being associated, even inadvertently, with the past.

Here is the risk for Pastor, therefore. But he obviously considers it a risk worth taking. For Bauzá the stakes are higher. Can he manage to keep his party together?


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