Rebellion in ERC Barcelona: more than half of the federation's leadership resigns

BarcelonaERC Barcelona is once again experiencing turbulence. Eight of the thirteen members of the federation's leadership have resigned due to disagreements with its president, Creu Camacho. Seven resignations occurred at last night's meeting, and another one followed this Friday morning, as reported by ACN and confirmed by ARA. In the letter sent by the leadership members who resigned yesterday, which this newspaper has obtained, they cite the "structural inability to fulfill" the objectives they set when they took the reins of the federation last April. "The presidency has chosen to push through its own project, making unilateral decisions, sometimes without consulting the rest of the permanent committee and sometimes even contradicting agreements that had been reached," they state in the letter. Among the resigning members are Miquel Colomer, who worked closely with Creu Camacho, and city councilor Rosa Suriñach.

"We received a mandate to work to make the voice of the membership and the Barcelona federation heard within the municipal group. We received a mandate to democratize internal decisions, making them more collective and taking into account the opinions of the grassroots. We received a mandate to work as a team to guarantee collegiality and prevent collegiality and prevent [unclear] from having resigned. They consider that Camacho ran the federation "like a mere administrative office," sources consulted from this group point out.

For her part, the president of the Barcelona federation sent a letter to the membership on Thursday night to respond to this movement. "The dynamics of other times of constant conflict between internal factions, which have so recently weakened our image, are not the path for Esquerra Republicana," Camacho states in the letter, which ARA has also accessed. "The future of Esquerra Republicana in Barcelona must be built "Based on the shared goal of being a strong, leading, and relevant organization in the capital, overcoming old disagreements and looking to the future with unity and ambition," it adds. Underlying all of this is the struggle that critics of the Barcelona federation were waging against Oriol Junqueras' leadership and also against the president of the municipal group, Elisenda Alamany. In fact, Camacho presented herself as the alternative to the Republican leader and, against all odds, won the congress by a narrow margin of 14 votes. The leadership formed by the current president of the federation did not include members of the candidacy presented by Eva Baró, a Junqueras supporter. That is to say, it was made up strictly of members of her candidacy who are now turning their backs on her because they believe she has not guaranteed the federation's autonomy from the national leadership and the municipal group. In fact, in the letter, they denounce a "subordination" of the federation to the "interests of the municipal group." Sources consulted allege that Camacho had not fought against the reduction in the money the municipal group transferred to the federation. This is a view not shared by those on the other side.

A new congress

With the resignation of more than half of the leadership, the party should convene a congress to elect a new leadership, and it should do so within a month. The federation's regulations stipulate that a congress must be convened when more than 50% of the top leadership resigns. If it is not convened within a month, the national leadership must appoint an interim committee to manage the federation until the congress is held. In parallel, Thursday's meeting also approved the initial steps for convening the congress to choose the candidate for the municipal elections, which had been scheduled for February 27 and 28. Elisenda Alamany has already put herself forward to lead the candidacy. However, it remains to be seen whether this timeline will be altered depending on when the congress to elect the new leadership takes place.