ERC's discontent grows over funding

BarcelonaThe agreement on financing that emerged this Monday from The bilateral agreement between the two governments did not satisfy EsquerraIssues that Oriol Junqueras's current leadership considers fundamental, such as the ordinality, were left out. "It's non-negotiable," warned ERC spokesperson Isaac Albert at a press conference. The Republicans avoided going further publicly when it came to pressuring the Socialists. However, discontent within the leadership persists. ERC is not only upset with the agreement that emerged from the Bilateral Agreement, but also with the fact that this meeting took place, according to sources within the party leadership. They consider it to have been a "staged" effort that has further "complicated" the negotiations for the new financing model. However, Oriol Junqueras's critics go further and call the agreement a "mockery."

"It's clear that we don't like it and that things aren't going as they should," the same sources point out. Other members of the executive branch also admit that progress is being made more slowly than they would like and blame the Socialists: "They are dragging their feet." They add, however, that ERC must continue to "press." However, the party admits that a balance must be found when applying pressure in public: not only highlighting the breaches, but also the areas where it has overtaken. This is also a way of not giving ammunition to its rivals within the pro-independence space, some leaders admit. The party still bears the brunt of long-standing criticism from the pro-independence movement for having opened negotiations with the Socialists.

However, behind closed doors, Josep Maria Jové, president of the ERC parliamentary group in the Catalan Parliament, expressed his rejection of the agreement signed between the two executives at the meeting the Catalan government held with the parliamentary groups, according to knowledgeable sources. Oriol Junqueras himself has also expressed his discontent to the PSOE. In recent days of negotiations, the ERC leader has maintained contact with the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, and also with the Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, to try to speed up the negotiations and warn them that the talks were not going in the direction they should.

The investiture agreement signed a year ago by the leadership then led by Marta Rovira established that the bilateral commission should meet before June 30 to "formalize" the pact for the new financing. Following the Cerdán case, the talks between Republicans and Socialists had stalled and Oriol Junqueras's leadership decided to give the PSOE more time to finalize the model.In fact, the party leadership accepted that this meeting would not be held if the agreement that was to emerge represented a reduction compared to what was signed in July of last year. And, in this sense, they blame the PSC for forcing a photo-op that has caused even more "discomfort" among the Socialist ranks.

Critics attack the leadership

"It's not going to take fourteen days [for the bilateral commission] if what you're going to achieve is a great agreement, but are we there yet? I'm not optimistic," summed up a voice critical of the current leadership of Oriol Junqueras a few days ago regarding the delay of the Bilateral Commission. In recent hours, even more republican voices have emerged that have attacked the agreement signed by both socialist governments. "Another joke," former Speaker of the Parliament Carme Forcadell stated bluntly on Monday night in a tweet to X. Former Minister Dolors Bassa joined in: "Angry, distressed... and everything that's coming!" she expressed, before adding that the Bilateral pact does not "deliver."

"Esquerra should not tolerate reductions," added Xavier Godàs, who led the alternative candidate to Junqueras, the New National Left, on Tuesday: "The agreement only talks about management, while the initial political agreement also included collection, inspection, liquidation, and the availability of all." In fact, some critics focus not so much on the ordinality—as the current leadership does—as on Esquerra's "renunciations" on issues such as Catalonia holding the key to the fund. They warn, in this sense, that if the final milestone ends up being a consortium, it will represent a breach of the investiture pact. "When the PSOE smells that you are willing to reduce prices, they reduce prices much more," a member of this sector told ARA. "The ERC leadership seems to want to cover it up," adds another voice critical of Junqueras. "It was a lukewarm, undemanding reaction," concludes another critic, who considers the management to have an "autonomist attitude."