Esquerra Republicana and Podemos have formalised an electoral collaboration agreement for the general elections on 29 November. Podemos will not present its own candidacy in Catalonia and will support ERC's, led by Gabriel Rufián, who will campaign alongside Irene Montero.
Podemos will not run with its own candidacy in Catalonia in the general elections on 29 November. This is stated in the electoral collaboration agreement that the purple party and Esquerra Republicana made public this Monday, according to elplural.com. The pact will allow Irene Montero's party to join the republican candidacy led by Gabriel Rufián and share the campaign.
This is not a formal coalition. The republicans retain their initials, and the purple party maintains its strategy in the rest of the State, while both leaders coordinate events and messages during the campaign. The declared objective of both organisations is to combine efforts against the right and the far right.
This move comes amid a race against time for the Spanish left and while the composition of the Frente Amplio, the project promoted by Movimiento Sumar, Izquierda Unida, Más Madrid, and the Comuns, has yet to be resolved. Negotiations are still open, and the deadline is tight: the Friday 16 October deadline for announcing electoral coalitions is approaching.
The announcement has not been well received among the organisations negotiating that space. The Comuns have expressed their disappointment with Rufián, accusing him of contributing to the division of the progressive space.
"Gabriel Rufián came to unite the left and is doing everything possible to divide them"
The Catalan party maintains its intention to run in the general elections in Catalonia under the umbrella of the new project and positions Ada Colau as one of the figures capable of promoting a united candidacy.
The scenario presents a paradox: Podemos has reached an understanding with ERC, its electoral competitor in Catalonia, while at the same time it could close agreements with other progressive forces in different constituencies. The integration of the purple party into the Frente Amplio, the distribution of candidacies, and the scope of territorial alliances remain to be clarified.
For the Catalan electorate, the pact translates into a campaign with two national figures sharing the stage in the Barcelona constituency, where Rufián again leads the republican candidacy. Parties to the left of the PSOE have until 16 October to clarify to the Electoral Board how they will present themselves for the elections.
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