Cepyme's leadership pressures Cuerva by letter to reverse changes in the voting system

A majority of the Cepyme leadership questions the form and substance of the change in the voting system that was promoted a week ago by the president of the business organization, Gerardo Cuerva, against the criteria of the Executive Committee in which those in favor of Antonio Garamendi have more votes. This was made known in a series of letters - with the same content - that they sent to the management of the SME employers' association on February 20, just two days after the vote that they threaten to challenge in court if Cuerva does not immediately recover the possibility of delegating the vote and call the elections for the presidency.

The letter, which was released by 'ABC', denounces that in the two meetings held last Tuesday "a series of serious irregularities" were committed, which violated the organization's statutes and damaged "the trust of the members in the organization and its external image . " The two dozen members who support the letter question the imposition of the secret ballot system to decide on changes in the delegation of votes, when this method is only reserved for "the election and dismissal of the president" but not for "its improvised use in the adoption of agreements in the meetings of the Executive Committee and Board of Directors." The group points out that this procedure meant an "unprecedented reduction of democratic guarantees" and "control" and also criticizes "lack of information to the members" about the agreements due to not knowing the text beforehand.

Cepyme sources explain that they are considering how to respond to these letters and are clinging to the legality of the change proposed by Cuerva to reduce Garamendi's ability to influence votes in the upcoming elections. "The Executive Committee is a collegiate body of the president and does not have the authority to change internal rules, it only deals with daily management. They must accept that the Board of Directors has overwhelmingly supported voting freely and secretly " they argue, alluding to the fact that the supervision of the Committee's performance is also part of the powers attributed to this Board by the Statutes.

The management of the SME employers' association questions the fact that the system is being maintained which, in its opinion, does not guarantee that democratic principles are respected, as it does not guarantee that the vote is secret and opens the door for decisions to be concentrated in a few hands. "We cannot accept that our organisation is not governed by democratic principles . It is inconceivable" they point out in reference to article 7 of the Constitution. "Those who defend something else and do so publicly, as they are doing, must give many explanations" they add.

This exchange of positions shows that today, the split within the employers' association is complete after both leaders held a second meeting with the aim of agreeing on a single candidacy that ended without success , as reported by elEconomista.es . In parallel, heavyweights from both organisations are trying to save this path, in which fewer and fewer have placed their hopes, which would involve agreeing on Cuerva's exit from the management of the employers' association of SMEs once a year has passed since the elections to make way for one of the businessmen most in line with Garamendi's management. To do this, some positions were put on the table such as the presidency of the employers' association of SMEs or the Chamber of Spain , which have not managed to get both business organisations to sign the peace.