Athletic Club will hold the presidential elections on May 8 in San Mamés, as announced by the president, Jon Uriartewhich has also ratified the decision announced last October to stand for re-election.
Uriarte, three months before the end of his mandate at the end of June, has advanced that The current board of directors will cease their duties next Sundaythe 29th, and it will be then that a management committee will be formed that will govern the club until the date of the elections.
“We thought that this date was the best of all the possible ones and the one that best suited the club for various reasons. Mainly because we believe that we minimize interference in the day-to-day life and on the other hand because it gives room for maneuver to the person who is in charge of Athletic for the next four years. Be it me or someone else,” the president explained.
Uriarte, only candidate so far
The calendar published by Athletic reflects that next Sunday, the 29th, the electoral process will officially get underway with the publication of the call for elections. Those interested in submitting a candidacy, intention that for now only Uriarte has shownthey can begin that day the procedures to obtain the guarantees.
From April 9 to 18, the deadline for the “formal and complete” presentation of candidacies will be open and on the 23rd of that month the electoral board will officially proclaim those that are valid.
If there is more than one, the elections will be held on May 8, Friday, on a weekend in which the Athletic-Valencia match is scheduled at ‘La Catedral’. Uriarte advances that They are going to ask LaLiga that this match not be held that day to have time to prepare the necessary infrastructure at the stadium.
Asked about the chosen date, with four League matches still to be played, the Bilbao businessman admits that “there is no perfect election date” and that “anyone has its pros and cons.”
After “completely ruling out” the one at the end of June, when the four years of his mandate would be completed, because it would “leave no room for maneuver” to the new president, he pointed out that the one on May 8 affects even fewer parties than a later one.
“Let’s not try to see strange things, because there aren’t any”
“The message I send is that we don’t try to see strange things, because there aren’t any. There is no perfect date and there has been enough time to prepare an alternative. It is not a date that I have set but rather that they have recommended me to the club because they have considered, and I have accepted, that it was appropriate,” he stressed.
Uriarte also believes that holding elections in Athletic has positive aspects such as “giving members alternatives to choose the people who will manage the club“and it forces the candidates to “bring out the best in themselves”, but he also believes that “being poorly managed also has a negative effect on the club” because it can “generate division and conflict”.
“Turning this around, the positive thing is that you avoid that conflict and it would also be a sign that there is unity in the social mass. If in the end no one comes out it is because they think that the club is well managed and they believe that there is no improvement or because they believe that if they show up they will lose,” he reflected.
