In what has Rufián conceded and in what Junqueras?

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 return as the party's head of the list in the general elections. This 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 return as the party's head of the list in the general elections. The agreement between ERC and Podemos has been made official with a joint statement that specifies the terms of the collaboration: Podemos will contribute to the ERC candidacy in Catalonia and Rufián will campaign with Irene Montero. What has Junqueras conceded and what has Rufián conceded to reach the understanding?

There is no left-wing coalition

Rufián went on a tour with various left-wing leaders throughout 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 United We Can 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," said the republican spokesperson at the time.

This is not the project that Rufián has ultimately brought to the ERC table. The party has agreed to limit the understanding 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 text does not specify, however, how Podemos's contribution to the republican list will materialize. Meanwhile, the Broad Front, on which various left-wing forces are working and which could end up being led by Ada Colau, remains a differentiated initiative with which ERC will compete at the polls.

Rufián has defended a broader understanding between the left-wing forces, but the 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 of the State under its 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 those in top-tier positions should be close to him. ERC has warned him that it cannot guarantee this and that this will have to be decided by the party's federations, but it is certainly true that numerous critics of Rufián have resigned or have 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 head 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 battle it out 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 if this claim will materialize in any way. Be that as it may, the party will not give up having the final say on relevant decisions in Madrid.

Campaign in Spain

Rufián is the most coveted left-wing leader in the State, and he is aware of the impact his messages and interventions have. Although he has never publicly shown a desire to lead the state's left-wing forces, he has been giving hints that he wanted to be 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, he is sharing space at least with Podemos, a party that this same term 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 for 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 stated that an agreement between the rest of the state's left-wing parties is still possible.