Rufián contradicts ERC and states that he is working for a unitary candidacy with the Commons

BarcelonaAfter announcing that Gabriel Rufián will be their candidate for the next general elections, ERC held a press conference this Tuesday to rule out any collaboration with state-wide left-wing parties that goes beyond incorporating members of Podemos into their lists. In fact, the party spokesperson, Isaac Albert, avoided answering the criticism from the Comuns regarding the alliance with the 'purple' party and once again closed the door to being part of the state-wide 'Front Ampli' coalition that Sumar, the Comuns, Esquerra Unida, and Més Madrid are negotiating. However, the words of the republican leader were contradicted by Rufián himself in a post on X: "ERC and the Comuns must talk, listen to each other, and reach an understanding to unlock the situation. Beyond vetoes and hatreds that matter to no one. And I am committed to this. And I will do it until the end". "What cannot happen is that the way to respond to the extreme right is to dilute the ERC acronym. ERC will run in Catalonia as ERC," replied Albert at a press conference.

Gabriel Rufián has once again verbalized this Tuesday what he has been advocating for months: a global agreement between all state-wide and pro-independence left-wing parties that serves to stop the extreme right. A thesis that his party, ERC, rejects. However, for Rufián to continue being their candidate for the general elections, both parties reached an agreement that involves an alliance with Podemos, so that ERC would incorporate people from the 'purple' party into ERC's lists and, in exchange, they would not run in Catalonia. Furthermore, the republicans and the 'purples' also agreed that Rufián and Montero would hold joint events in Barcelona and Madrid – Isaac Albert specified that ERC will open and close the campaign in Catalonia, but did not detail which events they will hold together –. Rufián, however, is not satisfied. "It makes no sense to demand 'Fronts Amplis' for Madrid and not want them for Catalonia," he said in the same post. In fact, this Monday he had already published a message in the same vein in which he assured that he would continue working for an alliance of all the left-wing parties "until the end".

Be that as it may, this week ERC must close all the candidacies for the general elections, both for Congress and the Senate. And this involves bringing together the candidates who emerge from the different territorial assemblies and placing them on the different lists. Rufián will head the list for Barcelona, where Deputy Jordi Albert will also be – he is the name that the leadership had proposed as a plan B for Rufián – and the rest of the names that emerge from the territorial assemblies, in some of which the leadership is promoting names trusted by Rufián. It is in this candidacy for Barcelona and also in that of Tarragona where there will be people from Podemos – there will be none in Girona and Lleida –, although Albert has assured that Podemos has not demanded that they be in positions to win.

Internal criticism over the agreement with Podemos

The agreement between ERC and Podem has not pleased everyone among the Republicans. Former minister Dolors Bassa has voiced the criticisms, asserting in an interview with TV3 that she finds it hard "to understand that Podem can be on the ERC list and that Rufián campaigns outside of Catalonia". In fact, she has lamented that the pact with the 'liles' (Podem) was not consulted with the ERC base and that the party has placed itself, in her view, "at the service" of Rufián, and not the other way around. Albert said that an internal consultation was not necessary because ERC has not signed any coalition with Podem. "The lists will indeed be voted on by an executive committee and the national council," she added.

Bassa has defended that one can vote like Podem on social issues, but she has reclaimed the pro-independence character of Esquerra, and has insisted: "That they go together is hard for me to understand". In this sense, Albert has defended that the framework of the alliance with Podem is the "collaboration to stop the extreme right" and has assured that Podem defends the right to decide. Bassa, however, has attributed the decision to the "electoral calculations" of Podem and the desire for Rufián to remain "calm" with what he has been "preaching" in recent months. In the last few hours, there are militants who have made it public through X that they were unsubscribing from the party after this agreement with Podem.

Podemos' contacts with the Broad Front

In parallel, with three days left until the deadline for submitting coalitions for the Spanish elections, the formations to the left of the PSOE are resisting giving up on unity. The different parties are maintaining the goal after a long weekend of cross-announcements, with the Rufián-Podem agreement, on one hand, and the choice of Ada Colau as presidential candidate for the Broad Front, on the other. The Podemos candidate, Irene Montero, one of the most belligerent voices in the tug-of-war between the different spaces of the Spanish left, has admitted that "conversations" remain open with the Broad Front. "Yes, there are always conversations," she said in statements to Cadena SER. And she added: "There are few days left, and the most important thing is that we take care of things and try to ensure they finally reach a successful conclusion".

Montero, who has avoided controversy with the Broad Front formations – Sumar, Comuns, United Left, and Más Madrid – has invited these parties to join the "collaboration framework" closed with ERC. "Of course it is open to them [...]. We must continue working so that many more people are involved and so that the candidacy represents this left-wing majority that wants the price of rent and the cost of living to go down". "We will continue talking and trying all forms of collaboration," she said subsequently to TVE.

The Podemos candidate made these statements after the coordinator of the Sumar Movement, Verónica Barbero, stated on Telecinco that they are confident in unity despite Rufián's move – whom she criticized for his "change of opinion" when sealing an alliance with Podemos. "The Broad Front is the unity of the left, and obviously all political organizations that wish to do so are invited to participate, including Podemos," she said. And she was even clearer: "We want Podemos to be part of it, because we understand that what the public expects is that we can revalidate a coalition government". The purple party, for now, considers it ruled out to integrate into the candidacy surrounding Sumar.

Friday, the deadline

Reproaches and crossed criticisms do not help in the negotiations, especially if they are against the clock, because on the 16th, this Friday, the deadline to present coalitions for the elections ends. Wednesday and Thursday the primaries to choose candidates that Podemos has decided to move forward with despite the disagreement expressed by the Broad Front are maintained. These are open primaries for all citizens, and in which one can vote through the Primarias.info website.