ERC will incorporate candidates from Podem into the general election lists

BarcelonaThis Sunday, Gabriel Rufián and the national leadership of ERC led by Oriol Junqueras announced a pact that allows the politician from Santa Coloma de Gramenet to once again be placed as the party's head of the list for the general elections. The agreement involved the collaboration of Podemos and it was this Monday that the deal was made official between the Catalan party and the purple party with a joint statement specifying the terms of the operation: Podemos will contribute to the ERC candidacy in Catalonia and Rufián will campaign with Irene Montero, working as a "team" with the goal of "standing up to reactionism," just as sources from the republican leadership had already confirmed since this Sunday. At the same time, republican sources already specify that there will be people from Montero's party on the lists as independents. What has Junqueras conceded and what has Rufián conceded to reach the agreement?

There is no left-wing coalition

Rufián went on a tour with various left-wing leaders across the State to advocate for a kind of popular front like that of 1936. The moment is, according to his diagnosis, exceptional enough for all the left-wing forces to unite to try to stop the arrival of the PP and Vox at the Moncloa. In an event in Barcelona with the leader of Podemos, Irene Montero, he clearly defended the unity of the sovereignist left with the Spanish left: "We have to talk, we have to come together, what Unidas Podemos did a few years ago was extraordinary, why can't it be repeated? Why can't ERC inspire this Spanish left? If not, they will kill us separately," the republican spokesperson said at the time.

This is not the project that Rufián has finally brought to the ERC table. The party has agreed to limit the agreement to Podemos, but not in the form of a coalition. According to the joint statement, Podemos will contribute to the Esquerra candidacy in Catalonia, while Rufián and Montero will share campaign events. The organizations argue that this means "joining forces, with our own voice and shared objectives." Thus, they summarize that "collaboration between left-wing forces to stop the extreme right, defend the country and protect the rights of the citizenry is essential." Meanwhile, the Broad Front (Front Ampli), on which various left-wing forces are working and which could end up being led by Ada Colau, remains a separate initiative with which ERC will compete at the polls.

In fact, Comuns has reaffirmed in a statement: "We will run in the general elections in Catalonia as we have always done. We were the second most voted force in the 2023 general elections," they recalled. In this line, they have expressed "disappointment" with Rufián because "he came to unify the left and is doing everything possible to divide it." They believe, however, that Ada Colau could be "the leadership that can help push and make a unitary Broad Front possible."

Rufián has defended a broader understanding between the left-wing forces, but the republicans' statement does not specify whether the collaboration with Podemos could be extended to other forces. For the moment, the agreement does not foresee that ERC will gather all the left-wing forces of the State under its own acronym. Junqueras had already warned that "he had not gone to prison for Ada Colau to be an ERC candidate".

Trusted team

In the negotiations, Rufián had made a request that highlights the internal strife within the parliamentary group in Madrid: he demanded a trusted team. That is to say, that the candidates for Congress and the members in starting positions should be close to him. ERC has warned him that it cannot guarantee this and that this will have to be settled by the party's federations, but it is certainly true that numerous critics of Rufián have resigned or been relocated. For example, Jordi Salvador and Pilar Vallugera are leaving the lower house, while Francesc-Marc Álvaro –who is indeed a Junquerista but distant from the one from Santa Coloma– will lead the list for the Senate. There are also other names that will make up the list that Rufián has put on the table and whom the party has committed to helping. However, in Girona, for example, Teresa Jordà, very distant from Rufián, will fight the battle with Etna Estrems to be the head of the ticket in the constituency.

Greater influence on decisions in Madrid

It has not transpired how they have resolved another of the points of conflict: Rufián asked to have more autonomy and influence in all decisions that have to do with the Congress of Deputies and the activity in Madrid. It is one of the unknowns that will need to be resolved, given that the republican leadership has not yet clarified whether this claim will materialize in any way. Be that as it may, the party will not renounce having the final say in relevant decisions in Madrid.

Campaign in Spain

Rufián is the most coveted left-wing leader in the State and he is aware of the repercussion his messages and interventions have. Although he has never publicly shown a willingness to lead the state-wide left, he has been giving hints that he wanted to get involved in the project. So one of the issues he has achieved in the negotiation with ERC is for the party to accept that he also campaigns in Spain. Right now sharing space at least with Podemos, a party that this same legislature has opposed the singular financing of Catalonia –and also the pact for the new model promoted by ERC and the PSOE– and the transfer of immigration powers. According to the joint statement made public this Monday, Rufián and Irene Montero will team up in campaign events for the general elections on November 29. This morning, the former leader of Podemos, Pablo Iglesias, stressed in an interview on RNE that Rufián will be able to act as a "symbolic reference" in the State and has stated that an agreement between the rest of the state-wide left-wing parties is still possible.