Navarro will not present his candidacy in the CEV after Lafuente confirms his options.

The president of the Business Confederation of the Valencian Community (CEV), Salvador Navarro, announced yesterday that he will not run for reelection, as he had announced on September 11, days before formally calling elections. "I think it's a good time to step back," he said in the CEV press room, packed with journalists he had summoned just two hours earlier. He stated that he was doing so after confirming that Vicente Lafuente, president of the Valencian Metallurgical Business Federation (Femeval), is entering the race to preside over the employers' association, and with the conviction that "I have already done for my country what others have yet to do."

Navarro doesn't want to confront another alternative list, and he made this clear by repeatedly stating that "there must be unanimity in this House." It's the one he sought when presenting his candidacies in previous terms, and the one he was appealing to until just a few days ago, when speculation began that an alternative list led by Vicente Lafuente might oppose him. "What I don't want, having always worked with unanimity, is to jeopardize the organization. I think that's what's important," he added.

What I don't want, having always worked with unanimity, is to put the organization at risk."

Shortly after Navarro's resignation, Lafuente issued a statement confirming his candidacy, citing "the need to provide a new, coordinated push to continue moving forward." His name had been bandied about for days after business sectors began to show discontent with Navarro's administration last week, privately, much more than publicly, and criticizing him for his "personalist" approach. Cristóbal Aguado, president of the Valencian Business Association, was most vocal in his opinion, both in this and other media, that his administration had been "clearly improvable," although the key was to "get things back on track to achieve success."

Electoral process in the CEV The steps to follow

Salvador Navarro announced that he would bring forward the employers' association elections to September 11th. They were scheduled for January, but he moved them to November 6th, curiously, one day after President Carlos Mazón announces the formation of a new Valencian government with the departure of Vice President Francisco José Gan Pampols on the 4th. The electoral process for the employers' association began last Thursday the 19th, following the board meeting held in Castellón, and the deadline for submitting candidates will remain open until October 22nd. The key to this new electoral process will be these lists, which must be submitted to a vote by the assembly and must have the minimum endorsement of at least 20% of the full members of the assembly. The 334 members of the 167 associations and federations and 181 members from directly associated companies will be eligible to vote, for a total of 515 members eligible to vote. Various sources explain that the metal federation, chaired by Vicente Lafuente, is one of the largest in voting, but anything could happen, even a second list, after the recent shocks.

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Salvador Navarro and his secretary, Esther Guilabert, were supposed to meet with Aguado last Friday to test possible support, but the meeting was canceled, as was his participation in the latest meeting of the social dialogue table, chaired by President Carlos Mazón. He was "unwell," the CEV claimed. This meeting at the Palau was not easy, given the many gatherings he had been involved in Wednesday night at the Valencia Chamber of Commerce gala following the president's reference to him. Mazón began his speech and, therefore, formal greetings, skipping those of the Minister of Economy, Carlos Cuerpo; the Government Delegate, Pilar Bernabé; and the president of the employers' association because, he said, "they have left... and, what's more, together."

He avoids confronting Mazón after his comment the other day and says the president has "a funny tone."

An allusion to which Navarro responded yesterday, arguing that "we all know the President of the Generalitat's humorous tone" and which he assured he didn't take "as a snub." Regarding his relationship with the Valencian government, he emphasized his loyalty "to the institution" and clarified that this "also means being loyal, constructive, and critical," but it's no secret that there have been disagreements in recent years.

Since it was rumored that Salvador Navarro was Mazón's companion at the Ventorro on the afternoon of the Dana and the latter denied it, to the cuts in aid to the CEV and the unions or the differences in the call for proposals by the Per Un Finançament Just platform, the relationship between both institutions had been cooling.

Read also The president of the CEV is absent from the social dialogue table and sends his vice president Neus Navarro

Yesterday, the businessman acknowledged having had disagreements with both the Valencian Government and the opposition, championing his own agenda, which he hopes will continue to be maintained. He devoted a large part of his speech to this agenda, stating that in his 14 years as president, "we have not let our guard down on strategic debates such as regional financing, the Mediterranean corridor, water, or social dialogue."

He highlighted the CEV's achievement in having gone from representing just one province to becoming the sole business representative for the entire Valencian Community, an entity that brings together more than 167 sectoral associations at the regional and provincial levels, which in turn represent 580 organizations from all sectors. He also outlined tasks, such as defending infrastructure, specifically the Port of Valencia, "for which we must continue working."