In view of the municipal elections and strengthening the organization, ERC began a congressional process in September that will probably culminate on January 28 with the approval of a new political proposal or roadmap. Before, on November 6, there will be a first vote to define the direction of the party. In all likelihood, Oriol Junqueras and Marta Rovira will be elected again as president and general secretary of the party, along with the current executive. This candidacy will be presented on Sunday at the Esquerra headquarters.
Junqueras and Rovira have been number one and two since 2011. Until the last congress, in 2019, both the presidency and the general secretary could be elected continuously for up to twelve years, although their terms may end. However, a variable was introduced in the text by which if the presidency and the general secretary have not been able to “fully carry out their functions for reasons beyond the organization and their will”, this term is suspended. It is a note that was introduced expressly with Rovira in mind, who has been working from Switzerland since March 2018, and taking into account Junqueras’ three and a half years in prison for 1-O.
The internal opposition in the party is minimal, so Junqueras and Rovira will have no problem renewing their positions. Pere Aragonès will continue as national coordinator of ERC, while Marta Vilalta will repeat as deputy general secretary.
In Esquerra, which has around 9,000 militants, they have the municipal elections at the end of May 2023 between their eyebrows. They advanced the 29th congress, scheduled for the end of next year, with the idea of ??”strengthening” the party and unifying its ideology. For these elections, Junqueras’ highest aspiration is to continue competing and gaining ground against the PSC, something that he has achieved gradually and with some success in the Barcelona metropolitan area. With this objective, for example, the candidacy of Gabriel Rufián has been raised in Santa Coloma de Gramenet. Or the incorporation of ex-socialist profiles in the ranks of ERC.
With Junqueras and Rovira at the helm, Esquerra has managed to win the presidency of the Generalitat through the figure of Aragonès for the first time since the restoration of democracy in Spain and after years of leadership in the Palau de la Generalitat of CiU and CDC, PDECat and Together, and the PSC.
