Junqueras closes the ERC congress by asking Junts for collaboration in negotiations with the State.

MartorellOriol Junqueras began this weekend's congress with the image of internal peace he had been seeking for weeks. The core of his critics hadn't disappeared, but they had been demobilized after losing the first battle of the fall, when the Republican leader reclaimed the party presidency. However, the scandal over the posters against the Maragalls has once again sparked the realization that Esquerra is far from calm. The report of the truth commission promoted by Junqueras made critics explode This Saturday, which was described as a labor and considered a "mockery." At the closing ceremony of the congress this Sunday in Martorell, Junqueras avoided going into the internal situation of the organization. The Republican leader dedicated his speech to the international situation, especially to spur Republican militants to act as a dam against the far right, but he also took the opportunity to send a message to Junts. "It doesn't bother us when other political forces reach an agreement that increases the country's power share. We'll fight later about how it's implemented," he stated. In other words, the Republican leader asked the Junts members to to make a united front when negotiating with the State.

"This message was addressed to my friend Jordi Turull," he specified. The secretary general of the regional government was listening from the front row, a place reserved for representatives of the invited parties. This was also attended by the president of the Barcelona Provincial Council and deputy leader of the PSC (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party), Lluïsa Moret, as well as representatives of the Comuns (Commons), Podemos (Podemos), and the CUP (Cup), as well as unions and the employers' association Pimec (Mexican Workers' Union). The latest agreement between the regional government and the Socialists was the transfer of immigration powers, which the Republicans have expressed their willingness to endorse. Puigdemont's party also validated the Republicans' pact with the Spanish government to forgive part of the debt owed to the Regional Liquidity Fund (FLA). fair play The same hasn't been true of the financing agreement signed by the Republicans and the Socialists, which the regional government officials have criticized from the outset, nor has it been the same with the transfer of the commuter rail network. In fact, it's no secret that relations between Junts and ERC haven't improved much in recent months, despite the meeting held by Carles Puigdemont and Oriol Junqueras in Waterloo in January.

At this point, it's difficult to imagine that Republicans and Junts could open joint negotiations with the State, but what Junqueras has tried to ask of Junts is what Republicans have long preached: not to ridicule negotiations with the State or trip it up. "We were the first to say that this wouldn't be as we had imagined, that the road would be long, difficult, and steep. Sometimes it has been more so than we thought, because we've had to do it alone," reiterated ERC General Secretary Elisenda Alamany. The Republican leader took the opportunity to ask the membership to put aside their "complexities" and value dialogue with the State. "There is a party; the end of the complex Left," she argued. The Republican leader praised the fruits of the negotiation process with the State, such as pardons, the repeal of the crime of sedition, and amnesty. "We can't turn the page or pretend we're in 2017; we have to understand the country and listen carefully and better," he stated, in a dig at the PSC and Junts.

Junqueras, as in Junts, has also asked the socialists to row to materialize issues such as the new financing model, which is pending an agreement to develop the details that should occur before the summer - the Republican leader himself said in an interview in the ARA This week, the PSC (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) wasn't doing "everything it should have" to ensure the agreement went "well"—or the transfer of the Cercanías (local railways). And at this point, the Republican president has once again called for a "decent" train service for Catalonia: "We don't deserve a third-world service," he said, criticizing the state's management.

The rank and file reject opening the party to non-separatists.

In parallel, this Sunday, the membership voted on the last of the three proposals that the leadership had put up for debate. This is the strategic document, the Republicans' independence roadmap, in which they set 2031 as a key date for regaining the pro-independence majority on the streets and in the institutions—the same year that ERC will celebrate its centenary. In this proposal (approved by 92.3% of the votes), Joan Tardà had presented an amendment that aimed to open the party to non-separatistsA proposal that the former spokesperson in Congress wanted to implement with a change to the statutes, but ultimately backed down and moved it to the strategic document. The amendment called for Esquerra to define itself as a party "that brings together independentists and sovereigntists" who share a strategy for achieving the Catalan Republic. However, the rank and file rejected it with 56% voting against and 35% in favor. The leadership did not adopt a common position in this debate, but instead granted a free vote.

Aragonés is absent from the closing ceremony due to the report on the B

This Saturday, the party approved the political and statutory proposal (also with 90% support) after transacting the majority of the amendments presented by critics – especially those of the New National Left, the candidacy of Xavier Godàs and Alba Camps. In this way, the party president closes the second part of a congress in which participation has fluctuated between 700 and 500 people – despite having 1,500 registered members – and which began last autumn with the party immersed in an internal war that ended with The divorce of the tandem that had led Esquerra until now: Oriol Junqueras and Marta RoviraIn fact, the former secretary general of the Republicans did not participate in this weekend's plenary session (despite having registered). The relationship between the two remains nonexistent.

Several militants critical of the leadership who were present on Saturday were absent from Sunday's closing session. One of them was former president of the Generalitat (Catalan government), Pere Aragonès. The truth commission's report on the scandal involving the Maragall cartels and the ERC's B structure was the main reason for his absence. Sources close to him suggest that the former president believes that Joan Tardà's statement this Saturday amounts to dividing the party rather than rebuilding it, because he believes it was used to "attack" fellow party members. The former president was summoned to testify before this commission, but declined to participate because he maintains he had no knowledge of any B structure. The same sources regret that his name was used "unfairly" when summoning him.

The party is ending a long congress process—now the deadline for renewing the regional congresses begins—in which the wounds of the war that has shaken the organization in recent months remain open. Junqueras has the power to mend the party and recover the strength of an Esquerra that has experienced one of the worst crises in its history and is already looking toward the 2027 municipal elections as the first test of the new era for the Republican leader.