The CUP suspends running in the elections in one of the four capitals

BarcelonaThe CUP usually reconsiders its decisions after a failure. It did so after losing the two seats it held in Congress in the last general elections. Then, it agreed to pause its participation in the general elections and, if there is no 180-degree turn, it will not run in 2027. Also in next year's municipal elections, it could make a painful decision that the rest of the parties with a presence in Parliament, certainly, will not make: not to run in one of the four capitals.

The CUP of Lleida is in the midst of an internal reflection process on whether to present a candidacy for the Paeria. This is one of the options currently on the table. The other is to form a joint list with Comuns, which did obtain a councilor in the last elections, unlike the CUP members, who narrowly missed out. Mercè Cortina, a member of the Lleida assembly, confirms to ARA that these are the two scenarios they are debating.

"If we are inside but there is nothing outside, it is useless to have representation and we will have a very limited capacity for influence," points out Cortina to emphasize one of the CUP's pillars, that institutions are nothing more than "another tool, unlike the rest of the formations." In this regard, she recalls that a good part of the CUP's members have "multimilitancy" and are in numerous entities and organizations where they already work politically. "The CUP has never wanted power for power's sake, and perhaps it is time to strengthen ourselves from the outside," she adds. The CUP representative makes it clear, however, that if they do not run, it is not due to a lack of involvement from the militants themselves: "It is the result of a constructive internal analysis of how we can be more useful."

The other option is to go with Comuns, but the CUP members warn that it would not be "an electoral coalition" and that the objective would be to build "a broader candidacy." Cortina admits to conversations with the eco-socialist party, while highlighting that they have not yet addressed what form it would take, referring to the demand that all parties make for votes to count towards their brand when thinking about supramunicipal bodies. In no case, however, would ERC be added to this unitary list, as advocated by the Republican spokesperson in Congress, Gabriel Rufián. "This formula is discarded, we will not make a Frankenstein list," she states.

Without representation due to a few votes

Obviously, the electoral setbacks that the anticapitalists have suffered are behind this internal debate. In the last elections, the anticapitalists narrowly missed out. The CUP supporters gathered 2,170 votes (4.58%) and were just 300 votes short of achieving a councilor. In the previous ones, it was also close, with 2,434 votes and 4.3% of the total, but they lost the two councilors they had achieved in 2015. That term was the only one they had representation, capitalizing on the critical left-wing and independentist vote after debuting in 2011, without success. The commoners, on the other hand, gathered 2,373 votes, which allowed them to achieve a councilor with 5% of the votes, despite losing half of their support.