Colau makes an 'in extremis' call for unity: "I ask Rufián to fight the battle within ERC"

BarcelonaAda Colau doubles down on the call to form a unitary candidacy to the left of the PSOE, with just over 24 hours left before this Friday's deadline to present coalitions for the November 29th elections. The former mayor has directly addressed the ERC candidate, Gabriel Rufián, and asked him to put up a "fight" within his party so that it accepts an alliance with the Comuns and unity with the rest of the formations in the State. "I encourage him to fight the battle within the party," she said in statements to Catalunya Ràdio, where she showed her conviction that "we are still in time" to build an "anti-fascist unitary candidacy."

Colau explained that in recent days there has been "direct" contact between the leaderships of the Comuns and Esquerra and lamented that the response from Oriol Junqueras' party has been that "they do not want to sit down or even talk." "ERC is closing the doors roundly," she criticized. That is why she has demanded that Rufián, who "believes in unity," use his "influence" to force a change in his party's position, just as he did to achieve the electoral agreement with Podemos.

After remarking that "many options" can be studied without ERC, Comuns, and Front Ampli "losing their acronyms" and that "even the deputies could later go to different parliamentary groups," Colau asked herself "why is an anti-fascist unitary candidacy impossible" and warned that, if it is not achieved, "many people will be disappointed." At the same time, she closed the door to the possibility of the Comuns not running in Catalonia - as Podemos will do after the understanding with ERC - and opined that, if there is no agreement at the State level, Rufián should not campaign for the "purples" so as not to reinforce the division of the left.

The former mayor, however, has promised to "fight until the last minute," although Esquerra is not currently giving in. Without referring directly to the calls for unity, the secretary-general of the republicans, Elisenda Alamany, claimed this morning that her party is "the best antidote against the reactionaries" ahead of November 29th. She stated that the republicans are "the only ones capable of guaranteeing the freedoms" of Catalonia, "which are the freedoms of the middle and working class." "We know it and the people know it, and that is why we are growing. And that is why we are the strongest national left that accepts no lessons from anyone," she concluded.

Alamany made these statements from Montjuïc Castle, as part of the tribute for the 86th anniversary of the execution of former president Lluís Companys. Also from this stage, the Comuns did call for building a Broad Front "as large as possible" to go to the polls. "On November 29th we will have the monsters at our doors again," warned the parliamentary leader, Jéssica Albiach, who called to join efforts to stop "the fascists of the eagle" and vulture funds like Blackstone.