The President of the ERC, Oriol Junqueras, in a file photo.Juan Carlos Hidalgo (EFE)
Today no one can compete with Oriol Junqueras for the leadership of the Esquerra Republicana. But that doesn’t mean that after the two election losses this year and some controversial decisions, it is struggling with the wear and tear caused by internal criticism of its strategy. So far the debate has been able to stay at home, but the vote to renew the leadership of the powerful Republican federation in Barcelona this Friday has the numbers to make the discontent more public. Junqueras has chosen to support the list opposing the wing that traditionally dominates the federation, and a negative result could be disastrous for the former Generalitat vice-president.
On the one hand, there is “La Barcelona de Todos”, which has the visible face of Barcelona city councilor Eva Baró. He received 309 recommendations and the deputy is the current finance minister of the association, Toni Vidal. Virtually the entire leadership of the Interior Ministry, including adviser Joan Ignasi Elena, supports him. On the other hand, the Secretary General of Education, Patrícia Gomà, heads “Horizons Barcelona”. Behind the 267 endorsements with which he was able to demonstrate his support are names such as Jordi Coronas, a key figure in the party’s municipal faction, and the Secretary General for Social Rights, Oriol Amorós. Territorial Minister Ester Capella also supports her.
Reducing the renewal of the leadership of the influential Barcelona association to a clash between junqueristas and critics is too simplistic, but it can give many clues about the party’s current situation. More than 55% of the votes are needed to win the election to which the thousand activists are called and the approval phase shows that everything is very balanced. If this result is not achieved, a leadership must be formed that is integrated by both sides. This is the case for the current address. Last time, in extreme cases, a consensus list was reached. But everyone remembers that the elections of the Barcelona Association were always linked to the opening of the canal.
The problem is projecting that image at a time of weakness for the party, which is trying to recover from two electoral debacles this year and is nervous about how European and Catalan elections will stack up. Although Baró’s candidacy appears to have been blessed by management, she is trying to prove to be a breath of fresh air against the old candidates. However, the “usual” believe that the national leadership increasingly respects the autonomy of the Federation and finds it necessary to protect it.
It is in this defense of autonomy that perhaps the most conflict arises between proposals, and the finger always points at Junqueras. His decision to enter the government of the Provincial Council of Barcelona despite declaring that his votes would never be used to invest in the socialist party Núria Marín – he made a pact after the formation of the provincial government – went down very badly with some voters at. He also did this by naming Gabriel Rufián as a candidate for the parliamentary elections without any prior internal discussion. Ernest Maragall’s failure to win the mayoralty of Barcelona is the result of discord, with the national and federation leadership blaming each other for the failures.
No one is aware that this independence of the association is also crucial for two upcoming decisions: the decision to enter the municipal government led by the socialist Jaume Collboni and the eventual replacement of Ernest Maragall at the head of the municipal group. The debate was contained because it was precisely Junqueras who, in a further step, put the former socialist as candidate and unseated Alfred Bosch, who won the ERC Barcelona primaries in 2014, exactly ahead of Amorós.
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