5th General Assembly of Citizens (Spanish political party)

The 5th General Assembly of Citizens was held between 30 April and 3 May 2020 to renovate the leading bodies of the Citizens party (Cs) and establish the party's main lines of action and strategy for the next leadership term. A primary election to elect the new party president was held between 7 and 8 March. The assembly was called following the resignation of party leader Albert Rivera on 11 November 2019 as a result of Cs obtaining the worst electoral result of the party in the general election held on 10 November.^[1]

5th General Assembly of Cs

← 2017 7–8 March 2020 (primary) 30 April–3 May 2020 (assembly) 2023 →
Registered	20,713 (primary)
Turnout	12,328 (59.5%) (primary)
Candidate Inés Arrimadas Francisco Igea Ximo Aparici Popular vote 9,481 (76.9%) 2,752 (22.3%) 94 (0.8%) Delegate vote Unopposed Eliminated Eliminated
President before election Manuel García Bofill (acting) Elected President Inés Arrimadas

The assembly was originally planned to be held on 14 and 15 March, but was delayed and forced to be held telematically as a result of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic earlier that month and the enforcement of nationwide lockdowns to reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2.^[2][3][4]

The leadership election saw the spokesperson of the party's parliamentary group in the Congress of Deputies, Inés Arrimadas, becoming the new party president, winning the membership vote by almost 77% of the vote over Vice President of Castile and León Francisco Igea, who got 22.3% of the share. A Valencian member with no official post, Ximo Aparici, contested the primary getting 0.8% of the votes.

Candidates

Candidate		Age	Notable positions	Announced	Eliminated	Campaign	Ref.
Elected
Candidate elected as president.
Inés Arrimadas		38	Member of the Congress of Deputies for Barcelona (since 2019) Spokesperson of the Citizens Group in the Congress of Deputies (since 2019) Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of Catalonia (2015–2019) Spokesperson of the Citizens Group in the Parliament of Catalonia (2015) Member of the Parliament of Catalonia for Barcelona (2012–2019)	27 November 2019	Y Elected		[5] [6] [7] [8]
Proclaimed
Candidates who met the endorsement requirement and were officially proclaimed to contest the primary election.
Francisco Igea		55	Vice President of Castile and León (since 2019) Minister of Transparency, Land Management and External Action of Castile and León (since 2019) Spokesperson of Castile and León (since 2019) Member of the Cortes of Castile and León for Valladolid (since 2019) Member of the Congress of Deputies for Valladolid (2016–2019)	25 February 2020	8 March 2020		[9] [10] [11]
Ximo Aparici		46	None	6 February 2020	8 March 2020		[12] [13]

Declined

The individuals in this section were the subject of speculation about their possible candidacy, but publicly denied or recanted interest in running:

• 
  Ignacio Aguado
• 
  Luis Garicano
• 
  Albert Rivera
• 
  Begoña Villacís

• Ignacio Aguado (age 36) — Vice President of the Community of Madrid (since 2019); Minister of Sports and Transparency of the Community of Madrid (since 2019); Government Spokesperson of the Community of Madrid (since 2019); Deputy in the Assembly of Madrid (since 2015)^[14][6][15]
• Luis Garicano (age 52) — Member of the European Parliament (for Spain) (since 2019)^[16]
• Albert Rivera (age 39) — Member of the Congress of Deputies (2015–2019); President of the Citizens Party (2006–2019); Member of the Catalan Parliament (2006–2015)^[3]
• Begoña Villacís (age 42) — Deputy Mayor of Madrid (since 2019); City Councillor of Madrid (since 2015)^[6][17]

Endorsements

Inés Arrimadas

Inés Arrimadas' endorsements

• Luis Garicano, Member of the European Parliament (for Spain) (since 2019)^[16]
• Ignacio Aguado, Vice President of the Community of Madrid (since 2019), Minister of Sports and Transparency of the Community of Madrid (since 2019), Government Spokesperson of the Community of Madrid (since 2019), Deputy in the Assembly of Madrid (since 2015)^[15]
• Begoña Villacís, Deputy Mayor of Madrid (since 2019), City Councillor of Madrid (since 2015)^[17]
• Juan Marín, Vice President of the Regional Government of Andalusia (since 2019), Regional Minister of Tourism, Regeneration, Justice and Local Administration of Andalusia (since 2019), Member of the Parliament of Andalusia (since 2015), Spokesperson of the Citizens Group in the Parliament of Andalusia (2015–2019)^[18]
• Eduardo de Castro, Mayor-President of Melilla (since 2019), Member of the Assembly of Melilla (since 2015)^[19]
• Toni Cantó, Member of the Corts Valencianes (for Castellón) (since 2019), Member of the Congress of Deputies (for Valencia) (2011–2015; 2016–2019)^[20]

Results

Summary of the 7 March–3 May 2020 Cs national assembly results

Candidate		Primary		Assembly
		Votes	%	Votes	%
	Inés Arrimadas	9,481	76.91	Unopposed
	Francisco Igea	2,752	22.32	Eliminated
	Ximo Aparici	94	0.76	Eliminated
Total		12,327		—
Valid votes		12,327	99.99	—
Invalid and blank ballots		1	0.01
Votes cast / turnout		12,328	59.52
Abstentions		8,385	40.48
Registered voters		20,713		355
Sources[21][22][23]

Vote by party members Arrimadas   76.91% Igea   22.32% Aparici   0.76%

References

Other

1. "La Asamblea General de Ciudadanos se desarrollará telemáticamente en cuatro días y Rivera pronunciará unas palabras" (in Spanish). Madrid: Europa Press. 27 April 2020. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
2. "Albert Rivera se marcha y dimite como líder de Ciudadanos". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 11 November 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
3. "Albert Rivera abandona la política". El País (in Spanish). 11 November 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
4. "Cs entronizará al sucesor de Rivera el 15 de marzo". El Periódico de Aragón (in Spanish). 30 November 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
5. "Ciudadanos abre la pugna de la sucesión pendiente de la decisión de Inés Arrimadas". ABC España (in Spanish). 11 November 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
6. "Arrimadas, Aguado y Villacís, en la línea de salida para liderar el nuevo Ciudadanos". Público (in Spanish). 11 November 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
7. "Inés Arrimadas confirma candidatura para liderar Ciudadanos". Noticias para Empresas (in Spanish). 18 November 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
8. "Inés Arrimadas confirma en Más de uno que se presentará para liderar Ciudadanos". Ondacero (in Spanish). 27 November 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
9. "Francisco Igea reta a Arrimadas: o hay cambios en Ciudadanos o competirá por liderar el partido". El Español (in Spanish). 3 March 2019. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
10. "Igea se plantea ser rival de Arrimadas en las primarias de Ciudadanos". Moncloa.com (in Spanish). 26 December 2019. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
11. "Francisco Francisco Igea: "Presentaré una candidatura para liderar Cs. Hay que evitar una fusión fría con el PP"". El País (in Spanish). 25 February 2020. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
12. "Arrimadas e Igea tendrán otro rival en las primarias de Ciudadanos, un militante valenciano" (in Spanish). RTVE. 28 February 2020. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
13. de la Dueña, Óscar (6 February 2020). "Un militante de Tavernes anuncia su candidatura para presidir Ciudadanos". Las Provincias (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 June 2022.
14. "Ignacio Aguado hará valer el peso de la Comunidad de Madrid en la sucesión de Albert Rivera". ABC (in Spanish). 11 November 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
15. "Ignacio Aguado anima a Arrimadas a liderar Ciudadanos" (in Spanish). EFE. 12 November 2019. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
16. "Garicano ve a Arrimadas como una candidata "excelente" para presidir Cs". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 11 November 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
17. "Villacís apoya a Arrimadas para liderar Cs: "Estamos todos con ella"". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 13 November 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
18. "Juan Marín ve a Arrimadas "la única persona" que puede liderar Cs tras Rivera". Gaceta (in Spanish). 12 November 2019. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
19. "El presidente de Melilla respalda a Inés Arrimadas para presidir Ciudadanos". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 13 November 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
20. "Toni Cantó apoya a Inés Arrimadas para liderar Ciudadanos: "Es la persona perfecta"". eldiario.es (in Spanish). 13 November 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
21. "Inés Arrimadas gana las primarias a la presidencia de Ciudadanos". www.ciudadanos-cs.org (in Spanish). Ciudadanos. 8 March 2020. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
22. "Inés Arrimadas se impone en las primarias de Ciudadanos y triplica en votos a su rival, Francisco Igea". eldiario.es (in Spanish). 8 March 2020. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
23. Rodríguez, Antonio (30 April 2020). "Ciudadanos celebra el primer congreso por vía telemática de la democracia española". Voz Pópuli (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 January 2023.