The electoral polyamory of Gabriel Rufián

MadridNobody questions that Gabriel Rufián has established himself as an undisputed benchmark for the left throughout the State: he is, after all, the fourth best-rated politician in Spain and the preferred by Catalans. ERC's spokesperson in Congress has long made an uninhibited call – and discredited by the leadership of their partyLast week, Gabriel Rufián took another step and

offered to lead a united candidacy

of the lefts if this allows for a “confluence” of all accents with the aim of “maximizing” results: “It is time for the sovereignist lefts to pull and inspire the Spanish lefts,” he argued. Three days earlier, he had celebrated the success of an Andalusian party on 17-M and had presented the Spanish lefts as the “problem”, a diagnosis that is not new and which he had already made two months earlier at the event with Irene Montero in Barcelona.

In parallel, Podem continues to approach and bet on the Rufián-Montero tandem: “It is the team that could return the illusion to left-wing people”, defended the leader of the lilacs, Ione Belarra, a few days ago. “They are credible and people trust them to be brave and defend their ideas with conviction”, she claimed. And she showed confidence in being able to “carry out” this path. The next day –as he has repeated on several occasions–, Rufián lavished praise on Irene Montero, whom he presented as a “ great asset” and an “undeniable electoral asset”, and argued that Podem is essential in the scenario to come. “We are missing 1%”, he argued.

However, Sumar does not see things the same way as Gabriel Rufián. A weighty voice from Yolanda Díaz's parliamentary group defends to L'ARA that what is needed is a “r radical left-wing project for the State” that is not a “sum of regions” and questions “what do we do” with the autonomous communities where there are no nationalist or sovereigntist forces. In this vein, Sumar's co-coordinator, Lara Hernández, proposed on Monday holding a “great state meeting of all the left-wing parties” and encouraged Rufián to “specify” his roadmap. Esquerra Unida also advocates for an “integral and global” project for the entire State. On the other hand, in conversation with this newspaper, a Podemos deputy believes that it is “not incompatible” to fit sovereigntism and the confederal left together: “We invented the formula with Units Podem”, she emphasizes. In that first confluence, in 2016, En Marea, Compromís, and Barcelona en Comú joined.

Sources close to Rufián consulted by L'ARA justify that “he is a state asset, but he speaks from sovereigntism”. Along these lines, another voice close to the republican deputy boasts that his discourse and position help to “exit the bubble” and “normalize” independence: people from other parts of the State show him support and complicity, even though they are fully aware that he advocates for the independence of Catalonia. In fact, the party leadership sees him as a “keys asset to go far beyond the limits and borders” of ERC.

Marriage with ERC

Besides the flirtation of recent months with different spaces, Gabriel Rufián has maintained a marital relationship for ten years with ERC. Although the party's leadership has expressed its reservations about the spokesperson's proposal in Congress from day one, the formation continues to rule out divorce. “There is no will to kick him out. He is the best possible candidate”, defended the ERC spokesperson on Wednesday shortly after the event. Isaac Albert reiterated that the Republicans will run in the four Catalan constituencies under their own banner and rejected a coalition with the Spanish left: “It doesn't add up, it's not a good strategy”.

Would the new confluence that Gabriel Rufián is “disposed” to lead be in Catalonia or in the whole State? To begin with, he does not clarify it, but he does insist that the design must be “province by province” and that his aspiration is to place ERC in a “winning position”. What formulas can there be? “Shared points in the program, joint events, coalitions, or people not running in one territory in exchange for you asking for votes for them in another territory”, he reflected this week. And he made it clear that an “irrenunciable” condition is “respect for the exercise” of the right to self-determination. Aware that history has not yet reached its conclusion, he also issued a final warning: “I will not run with Esquerra again if there are no conditions. I will not do politics for another four years depending on how things are”.