The current president of the parliamentary group of United We Can, Jaume Asens, is shaping up to repeat as head of the list of En Comú Podem -renamed with the prefix Sumar- for Barcelona. But the decision has not yet been made because an intense debate has been fueled in the purple formation on the advisability of renewing the list so that it is headed by a woman, in this case the deputy and spokesperson in Congress Aina Vidal.
Some sources take Asens’s election for granted, but others point out that “it is not yet closed”, so that the national council that will be held this Friday, in which the final list will be debated and voted on, will be crucial. In that conclave, Aina Vidal’s supporters intend to defend their bet until the end.
What seems clear is that the commons lists will have new faces. At the moment, only fourth place for Barcelona is secured for Podemos’ organization secretary, Lilith Verstrynge, as a result of the agreement between Yolanda Díaz’s platform and Ione Belarra’s party. But Joan Mena, councilor elected by Sabadell, who has already made known his will not to repeat in Congress to dedicate himself fully to the city council, will fall off the list. Nor will María del Mar Puig, number three on the list four years ago, repeat.
The commons are hastening the last hours to design a list that was pending the agreement between Yolanda Díaz and Podemos and the negotiations with Podem in Catalonia. And they have taken the issue in total secrecy until this Friday, when the composition will be fully known in the four Catalan constituencies.
This delay reinforces the fact that the debate on the head of the list for Barcelona is boiling in the commons, focused on two profiles with different accents. Asens gained weight four years ago due to his link with sovereignism. Before entering Congress, the lawyer advised pro-independence leaders such as Carles Puigdemont on his flight to Belgium, and the president of Òmnium, Jordi Cuixart, who asked him to represent him in the Supreme Court trial. But he also has extensive experience defending causes linked to social movements, such as the Platform for Mortgage Affected People (PAH), the ‘anti-Bologna’ or the ‘yayoflautas’.
His election four years ago already generated the reservations of Podem Catalunya, but now they would have spread as a result of the appeasement in Catalonia after the years of the process, after the approval of the pardons and the reform of the Penal Code.
Vidal, by contrast, has gained weight. Choosing him would curb the feeling that with Asens a personalism is reinforced in the Catalan space. In addition, Vidal’s supporters highlight her experience in Congress -deputy since 2016-, her youth -38 years old- and her connection to neighborhood and labor struggles. Suffering from a “rare, intense and aggressive” cancer, she herself recounted that the doctors have managed to chronicle a disease that “was ahead of me.” Her supporters also point out that a woman would better match the project of Yolanda Díaz, who aspires precisely to become the first president of the Government of Spain.
