Joan Tardà asks ERC for a joint candidacy with CUP and Comuns

BarcelonaFormer ERC deputy Joan Tardà is one of the few public allies Gabriel Rufián has found in advocating for a unified candidacy of parties to the left of the PSOE to confront the far right. Until now, Tardà had defended "a plurinational left-wing common front" where ERC would share a list with Sumar, Podemos, or Bildu in the general elections. Now, however, he is going a step further. In an interview on Cadena Ser radio, the former spokesperson for the Republicans in Congress has asked ERC to discuss running jointly with the Comuns and the CUP, both in Spain and in Catalonia. "It makes no sense that a citizen who votes for the CUP, Comuns, the Left, or the Communists should have to choose separate lists," he stated.

Since Rufián raised that possibility, The ERC leadership has closed the door And he reiterated that it is not part of their roadmap. The Republican leader, Oriol Junqueras, asserted that the only election where it "makes sense" to run with other parties is the European elections, as ERC already does with Bildu and Més, and the BNG under the Ara Repúbliques banner, because the constituency is a single one. Furthermore, ERC has had a "strategic coordination" agreement with Comunistes de Catalunya since 2024, signed after years of collaboration. In 2023, the Republicans and Izquierda Unida i Alternativa—a party distinct from EUCat, which is part of the Comuns—also ran together in eight metropolitan cities. The closest precedent to a common front in Parliament—albeit with an independence focus—was Junts pel Sí in 2015. Beyond these agreements, Tardà is aware of the party leadership's reluctance to consider such operations in Spain and Catalonia, and that is why he has issued a call for unity. "We should all run on the same ticket because, moreover, it would be a prelude to what we should do the following year, in 2028, when the Catalan legislature ends. That is, in the 2028 Catalan elections, repeat the experience," he emphasized. To this end, he said, he has the support of the Republican Agora faction, which he described as the "most left-wing" wing of the party. Comunes recalls Junqueras's 'no'

Tardà's proposal also failed to appeal to Comuns. In an interview with Europa Press, Comuns coordinator Candela López asserted that the Republican leadership itself did not endorse it, adding that their priority was "realistic proposals." "Actually, it wasn't us who rejected this proposal. It was Oriol Junqueras himself," she recalled. When Rufián floated the idea, López asked not to ignite "false debates of understanding" in Spain to avoid generating "discredit and distrust" among progressive voters. However, this Tuesday she welcomed Tardà's proposal and, despite not endorsing it, acknowledged that, in the current context, the left is obliged to "understand each other better."

The Comuns' member of parliament also argued that the left should form alliances to pass specific policies, for example, on language, housing, or to confront the far right, fronts where she stated she also counts on the PSC. In the Catalan Parliament, and as parliamentary partners of Salvador Illa's government, ERC and Comuns have shown alignment on these issues, but also on special financing, the transfer of the commuter rail network, and opposition to the expansion of Barcelona airport due to environmental concerns. The only major clash between the two It has been the tourist tax, pending an agreement between the two forces after the Republicans blew up the pact between Comuns and the Government in February to double it. The CUP has only joined the pact on that front. to regulate seasonal rentals and protect social housing.