Ernest Maragall: "If Junqueras runs, I won't vote for him."

BarcelonaOriole Junqueras wants to run for the Generalitat again., but not everyone in Esquerra agrees. Hours after the Republican leader made his intention official this Tuesday at an event at L'Auditori in Barcelona, ​​​​several voices within his own ranks have spoken out strongly against it. One of them is Ernest Maragall, who, although no longer a member, has influence within the party. And he was blunt: "If Oriol Junqueras stands, I will not vote for him," he said in an interview with More night from 3Cat.

The former minister, who He left ERC due to the cartel case., criticized the "drift" and "attitudes" of Junqueras, who regained the presidency of ERC in December of last year after a fierce internal war, and pointed out his "capacity to divide and confront." He also criticized Junqueras for "expelling and doing away with" what, for Maragall, were "magnificent political assets of the country." And he gave an example: "Dispensing with Marta Rovira is a grave error, a sin," he asserted.

The former leader of Esquerra in Barcelona, ​​​​who in the primaries supported the New National Left —a candidacy embraced by Marta Rovira, as well as former President Pere Aragonès—has sought to clarify that Junqueras has "every right" to stand as a candidate and has "recognized" his career over the past fifteen years. But he concluded by stating: "For the same reason, it is obvious that [Junqueras] is not currently in a position to represent the future of that country."

Another critical voice of the Republican president's step forward has been that of former MP Jordi Orobitg, who in the party primaries joined the Foc Nou candidacy, led by Helena Solà and Alfred Bosch. In a message to X, in which he shared an image of Junqueras' conference, Orobitg criticized the fact that there was no trace of the ERC initials or logo on stage. "If anything made me a Republican, it was the militancy of Macià and Companys in Esquerra. I was a municipal candidate for the first time in 2011, at the worst moment for ERC, and I did not renounce its initials, I wore them with pride. Today the president of Esquerra..." he wrote.

So did former MP Alba Camps, who headed, together with Xavier Godàs, the New National Left candidacy. Camps has accused the party's leadership of having placed the party "at the service of one person": "A historic organization reduced to the candidacy of one person. Not one idea, not one image of the party. The organization at the service of one person."

Alamany: "It was a presidential conference"

ERC Secretary General Elisenda Alamany responded to the criticism on Catalunya Ràdio: "It was a presidential-oriented conference. It's understood that Oriol Junqueras is from ERC. What we wanted was to focus on the message," she said.

Through the same social network, another voice in the ERC orbit, Carme Garcia, shared the excerpt from Maragall's interview where he says he wouldn't vote for Junqueras, writing: "I share and applaud his sincerity and courage. Neither would I, Ernest Maragall, I wouldn't vote for Junqueras" for the same reasons...

The Col·lectiu 1r Octubre (October 1st Collective), which also presented its candidacy for the presidency of ERC but failed to secure enough support to compete in the primaries, also expressed suspicion of Tuesday's event. It now remains a critical current within the party. "It felt long. It seemed like 60 minutes of unnecessary egotism. I don't understand how party money would pay for a candidate's promotion. Aren't we all equal? Where are the republican values?" Xavier Martínez-Gil, who led the candidacy a year ago, asked in a tweet.