The president of Junts per Pineda and the local president of Junts per Catalunya in Pineda de Mar have denounced the irregular use of the acronym JxPineda by the Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) candidacy before the Zone Electoral Board (JEZ), in which Janina Juli i Pujol, wife of the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, both residents of the town of Maresme, is contesting as an alternate candidate.

The Junts per Pineda coalition registered the name in 2018. ERC used the initials JxPineda, derived from the Junts pel Sí movement, which in turn had been used throughout Catalonia before. But it was not until last year, due to the appearance of new electoral signs where the Republicans appropriated the Junts per Pineda brand, that JxCat warned and demanded that the Republicans not use this denomination, since “it could clearly confuse the electorate by appropriating acronyms that are not their property”.

Junts also regrets the use in this dispute of the figure of the president’s wife, Janina Juli, whose photograph has been widely disseminated on social networks as the first substitute for the ERC candidacy, which in these elections is once again presenting as head of the list Monica Palacín. Junts complains that the president’s wife is willing to maintain such premeditated confusion since her photograph is associated with the acronym ERC-JxPineda in all electoral advertising. It makes Janina Juli ugly that she “easily forgets” her time with the JNC, with Convergència Democràtica and, later, with PDECat until 2019, the date on which, they explain, she resigned after the pact in the Barcelona Provincial Council between JxCat and the PSC.

Representatives of JxCat and JxPineda criticize that ERC has not responded to their requirements sent in the form of a burofax to the Republican national headquarters a few months ago demanding the withdrawal of the inappropriate name. For this reason, they have submitted the complaint to the JEZ to resolve whether the Republicans can use the initials of JxPineda in the municipal campaign. They regret having to take legal action “when they have been amicably urged to stop using a name that is duly and legally registered by others.” For the moment, the JEZ has admitted the Junts per Catalunya-Junts per Pineda coalition, but has not issued a definitive resolution.

Sources from the national ERC leadership have avoided speaking out until they have the resolution of the Zone Electoral Board. In a local key, the ERC regional president, Josep Pena, assures that they have received the complaint and that they are legally analyzing whether the JxCat registration really corresponds to a political party. On the participation of the president’s wife, he has avoided making any comment.

In the event that the JEZ decides in favor of JxCat’s claim, the local formation of Pineda de Mar will demand the immediate withdrawal of all electoral propaganda in which JxPineda appears, an option that they assure that they would regret taking, but that responds to their conviction of feeling ignored by the republican formation.