Although it was not the reason for the visit and it has not been addressed today, EH Bildu’s candidate for Lehendakari, Pello Otxandiano, stated this morning in Barcelona that Esquerra and EH Bildu are in contact to run jointly in the Parliamentary elections. European Parliament on June 9, and thus reissue the 2019 coalition.
Otxandiano has recognized this, after his meeting with Pere Aragonès at the Palau de la Generalitat. “The challenge is to bring the voice of the sovereign left to the European context, because the advance of the extreme right and the reactionary wave, both institutionally and in the cultural struggle, is evident,” stated the representative of the formation of the abertzale left. “The voice of the sovereign left has to be strong and forceful to put a containment dam against that extreme right and move forward in progressive terms,” ??he said to justify repeating the coalition that ERC, EH Bildu and BNG formed almost five years ago.
While waiting for the coalition to come together, ERC designated Diana Riba as number one to run in the European elections a few days ago. Pernando Barrena was chosen in the case of EH Bildu. Today they are both MEPs.
The good relationship Esquerra and EH Bildu has been consolidated for years. Especially since 2019, when they decided to run together in the European elections alongside the BNG – they won three seats under the name of Ahora Repúblicas – or when they agreed to create a single group in the first state elections of that same year. The journey is long and this morning the Republicans and the nationalist left have taken another step when Aragonès received Otxandiano at the Palau de la Generalitat, although he does not hold any institutional position.
The candidate described the meeting as “cordial”, in which they briefly analyzed the political and historical context of Catalonia and Euskadi, “the reality of our nations”, in addition to state and European politics. “There is a coincidental analysis that the moment requires a medium and long-term perspective,” added Otxandiano before ensuring that “a clear vision must be addressed regarding social challenges.”
As he expressed, he agreed with Aragonès that both the Basque Country and Catalonia have to advance in “greater levels of sovereignty” and in providing themselves with sufficient instruments to make public policies “that respond to social reality.”
In the meeting, which lasted just over an hour, they addressed the Amnesty law, which is currently at a standstill waiting for the PSOE and Junts to reach an agreement. For Otxandiano, “this is a historic moment and we must know how to read the moment and what the risks are,” because “there is a reaction from the extreme right and the State apparatus to wreck any attempt to de-judicialize politics, in this Catalan case”. According to the Lehendakari candidate, today we must address the debate on plurinationality without ambiguity and the recognition of nations, in the face of a PP, he has said, that maintains a “reactionary” agenda.
The visit is framed by the Government and by both political formations in that same context of harmony, although the meeting is also part of an attempt to politically project Otxandiano, named as a candidate in December of last year for Basque elections that will probably be on April 21, awaiting the decision of Lehendakari Iñigo Urkullu. A projection that EH Bildu seeks as a figure capable of assuming an institutional role.
In fact, the polls point to a rapprochement in seats between EH Bldu and the PNV. EiTB Focus, for example, drew the Jeltzales with 28 seats, three less than those obtained in the last elections, while the nationalist left would manage to climb from 21 to 26 seats. All in all, the PNV could maintain the government with an alliance with the socialists.
Be that as it may, the formation of the nationalist left and the Government point out that the event should serve to exchange experiences, although Aragonès does so from a public executive management point of view. Otxandiano, as the ideologist of EH Bildu, does so with his essay Begirada, which collects his thoughts on the challenges to be faced at a local and global level, with a view to 2040.
