Oriol Junqueras has broken the silence he had maintained since Sunday, after the electoral fiasco of the Catalan Republican Left (ERC), the party of which he is president. He was due to speak on Monday, but it was acting Catalan president Pere Aragonès who did so in the end, to announce that he is leaving the political front line, while Junqueras listened to him from the back of the room and wrote a concise social media message to thank him for all his efforts. In a letter addressed to the public this Tuesday, the president of the Republican Left accepts the poor results, but far from announcing a decision in line with that of Aragonès, he makes it clear that he sees himself "with the heart and strength to continue working" for the country, at the head of the party which he has presided over since 2011. "And to always do so, in the place that the ERC membership decides, through the highest sovereign bodies within the party to whom the decision belongs", he adds. In this letter, Junqueras restates that he cannot access any position of public office due to the court sentence banning him from holding office, which will be lifted once the amnesty comes into force.
"Many people have distanced themselves from the Republican project"
Junqueras dedicates some of the early part of the letter, which he addresses to the entire public and not just to party members, to expressing his pride in the work done by the ERC-led Catalan government, underlining key data such as employment and export levels which had already been praised during the campaign, and the increase in the number of places for teachers, police officers and doctors. "And, despite everything, the public has given us a clear message. They have not expressed confidence in us, or our proposals, or our way of doing things or of explaining ourselves", regrets the ERC president, affirming that his party has "understood the message" sent to them by Catalans: "Many people have distanced themselves from the Republican project".
ERC, into opposition
The word "opposition" only appears once in this letter from Junqueras. On both Sunday night and Monday, Aragonès affirmed that this was the role his party had to assume after its electoral disaster, a premise that, at least in the 48 hours after election night, the party president shares: "We will be in opposition, at the service of the country. From today, we stand as the alternative, firm and demanding, against those who want Catalonia to be the seventeenth autonomous community that is told what to do," the letter states. ERC has not been in opposition since 2015, during the government of Artur Mas. In this text there is also room for the leader of ERC to make a veiled reference to Together for Catalonia (Junts), which in this election won 15 deputies more than ERC: "Neither do we want to build castles in the air that paralyze us and generate more wear and tear and frustration", writes Junqueras, recalling his commitment to an independence referendum agreed with the state.
In the text, which the political organization itself has circulated, the Republican president affirms that "a new phase is beginning", in which the party must make self-criticism on the reasons that it has lost three consecutive elections. First were the municipal elections of April 2023, not only being defeated in Barcelona but also losing mayors all over the country. Then, the Spanish general election immediately called by Pedro Sánchez, at which ERC lost 400,000 votes. And now the Catalan election, in which ERC has never been the largest party since the democratic transition - unlike other elections - but the tie for seats with the PSC in 2021 allowed the Republican Left to lead the Generalitat again for the first time in 80 years. "We must be self-critical and rethink what has not gone well, based on our conviction that ERC never gives up. We have never given up and we won't do so now either. From today, we start working to regain our pride, courage and drive," insists Junqueras.
Membership support
In the single most important sentence of the whole letter, Junqueras not only says that he sees himself with "the strength and the heart" to continue leading the Republican Left, but also that this will depend on the support of the party's members. In the party congress at the beginning of 2023, the grass roots confirmed the leadership of Junqueras and Marta Rovira, who have held the positions of president and general secretary since 2011 after a serious crisis of the Republicans following an electoral defeat in the Catalan elections of 2010 - where they were left with only 10 deputies - and the municipal elections of 2011. Although ERC party congresses are normally held every two years, the current situation following a disastrous electoral cycle means that bringing the party congress forward cannot be ruled out.
Until now, Junqueras and Rovira have not encountered opponents when the time has come to submit themselves to party approval and in fact in November 2022, their candidacy had 87% of the votes in favour in a Republican congress that was divided into two parts. It should be borne in mind that in 2019 the party's statutes were modified: up until then, they had stated that you could only be president or general secretary for 12 years. But, with the repression that hit ERC hard after October 1st 2017, with Junqueras being sent to prison and Rovira going into exile - from which she has not yet been able to return - it was added that this term would be suspended "when the holder has not been able to fully perform their duties as a result of causes beyond control of the organization and their own will, this term will be suspended". For this reason, after receiving the endorsement of members in 2022, the presidency of Junqueras can be extended for one further term, until 2026.
Critics call for resignation of the entire top leadership
The will of Junqueras to continue collides with the thoughts of a current of ERC members who were critical this Monday of the directionlessness of the party, especially over the pacts with the Spanish Socialists (PSOE) in Madrid. The party's 1st of October Collective called for the resignation of the entire top management, after Aragonès had announced his departure, requiring a "deep reflection" on the strategy that has been followed in recent years: "We can affirm this, since the strategy followed by the current management of ERC has not been backed by the voters in any electoral contest", they said in a statement.