“Ohhh!” was heard yesterday on the ground floor of the headquarters of the commons on Carrer Marina in Barcelona. It was at the moment when the possibility of a left-wing government ceased to add up to an absolute majority in a heart attack. Minutes later, a hypothetical understanding between the PSC, ERC and Commons Sumar was again possible. And then there were expressions of relief. The sounds came from the top floor, where the party leaders were. They were so obvious that even journalists heard them without difficulty from below. For those led by Jéssica Albiach, it was absolutely key that a left-wing pact was possible after 12-M. The opposite left them out of the game on the Catalan political board.
The polls did not smile at Commons Sumar, which lost two deputies. Even so, the night was not entirely bitter for Albiach and his people because they understand that there is the possibility of forging a left-wing stage in Parliament. It will not be easy, since ERC announced that after its defeat it wants to go to the opposition. Although not at any price, a progressive pact to make progressive policies is the basis of the commons. In the electoral campaign, they not only did not hide it, but exposed it to the maximum. With the election results in hand, the message was the same.
When the president Pere Aragonès revealed that his intention was to go to the opposition, no sound was heard coming from the room of the leaders of the communes. Maybe Albiach was on the phone. Shortly after, in front of the journalists, the candidate of Comuns Sumar assured that she had called the candidate of the PSC, Salvador Illa, to congratulate him on the victory and to consider reaching an agreement. She also urged him, explained the Valencian, to discard a pact with Junts in what would be a kind of social vergence that also adds up to a majority.
Albiach came out in an appearance without questions from the media surrounded by the main square of the commons. To his right, the Minister of Culture and spokesman for Sumar, Ernest Urtasun; on his left, the ex-mayor of Barcelona, ??Ada Colau. Also present were the number two of the candidacy, Lluís Mijoler, the deputy Joan Mena, and the former deputy and bet of the commons for the Europeans, Jaume Asens, among others. Their faces were not happy, but not sad either. Bittersweet gestures, although there was applause before Jéssica Albiach’s intervention.
“It’s not the result we expected. We wanted to have more strength”, acknowledged Albiach after going from eight deputies to six and losing more than 14,000 votes and more than one percentage point compared to the year 2021. The commons lose one deputy for Barcelona and are left without representation for Tarragona. With the CUP, they were the greatest exponents of the rejection of the controversial Hard Rock casino, planned for Tarragona lands. In the territory, the message was not electorally favorable to them. They dreamed of getting representation in Girona as in the last congressional elections. They stayed away.
And then, the other side of the coin. “We are essential to open a left-wing stage”, said Albiach. He did not define what kind of stage. A government of Socialists and Communes with ERC supporting the investiture is a possibility. “Catalonia needs and deserves a left-wing government”, he insisted. “Between the progressive forces we can have differences, but in the face of the rise of the right and the extreme right we must agree”, he argued.
