Rejection of pacts with the PSC
One of the distinguishing features of Foc Nou compared to the other two candidates has been the rejection of all alliances with the PSC. And in this sense, they had defended that ERC held a consultation in a year to assess whether it is necessary to break all the pacts that the party has signed with the socialists. This is one of the questions that Bosch has put on the table in the public interviews he has done this Sunday and Monday.
How have Junqueras and Godàs responded? The former has been open to assessing it and, this Monday, in an interview with Catalunya Ràdio, he said: “If I am president, the management and the national council will establish what the mechanism is, if a consultation between now and a year, 9 or 15 months, or a vote in the national council”. As for Godàs, this Sunday he did not want to assess it, but he did remark that they are not in favor of signing more agreements with the Socialists if they do not “comply”. There are, in addition, two decisions that must be taken in the short term: if ERC should enter the government of Jaume Collboni in Barcelona – Junqueras is a supporter and Godàs, not – and if they should be approved the budgets of Salvador Illa.
The plan for independence
Foc Nou has been critical of Esquerra’s direction in recent years because it considers that the milestone of independence has been abandoned. For this reason, during the campaign he presented a plan to achieve Catalonia’s independence by 2030 and which involves, among other issues, establishing coordination between pro-independence political forces, but also from the social and cultural sphere. The candidacy is betting that independence will regain a majority in Parliament which will lead it to call another referendum and, in case of victory, proclaim the Catalan Republic, always with international support. All of this should be done in parallel with the coordination of the pro-independence parties in Madrid to demand the “approval” of the Spanish government for the referendum and, in this sense, they demand that no investiture agreement be reached that does not accept this plebiscite. At the moment, neither Junqueras nor Godàs have evaluated this plan.
An audit for the poster scandal
Foc Nou has been very critical of the management of the cartels scandal and of Structure B. In fact, they have proposed an external audit on this case. Junqueras believes that Solà and Bosch’s proposal and the “truth commission” that defends their candidacy are similar. “Two-thirds of the party have demanded an audit and a truth commission to resolve cases like those of the posters,” Junqueras defended this Monday. In fact, the candidate of Militancia Decidim has taken the opportunity to send a dart to New Esquerra Nacional, the candidacy supported by Marta Rovira: “Only a third have endorsed that things continue more or less as they have done until now, they have endorsed the policies that have been made so far.” Godàs, in this sense, has bet to get to the end of the case, but through the mechanisms that are already in place in the party.
Junqueras assures that he did not know anything about the posters against the Maragalls or about structure B. For Bosch, not being aware of it also disqualifies him from continuing to lead the party. “Political responsibilities exist. If you were behind the wheel, either you knew it and didn’t tell the truth, or you didn’t find out about these serious things,” he told TV3.
Take charge of the executive?
At the outset, Solà and Bosch’s candidacy calls for prioritizing the program, before fighting for positions on the executive. “Chairs are not what motivates and excites us,” insisted Bosch this morning. Now, there are consulted sources who point out that in order to influence the party’s strategy, Foc Nou would be open to agreeing with Oriol Junqueras to have seats on the executive. Would Junqueras be willing? This Monday he did not clarify: “We are ready for everything and ready to rebuild as many things as necessary. It is possible that there are people who say that they want to help from this other place. And there are many places, no just on the list.” Godàs has said that it would be “an insult to militancy” to share positions with Foc Nou to try to defeat Junqueras, but he has not closed the door to joining people from the other candidacy.
