The majority of acting government councilors who are ERC militants are betting that the party will renew its leadership. Within Esquerra's own executive leadership, there are also more leaders who believe there is a need for leadership change. Thus, the idea of the General Secretary with functions of President, Marta Rovira, to make way for new names to command ERC, is imposed for the time being both in the Palau de la Generalitat and in the headquarters on Calabria Street.
Rovira, who is demanding a general renewal of leadership through a “calm transition” towards Congress on November 30, wants to leave office and believes former President Oriol Junqueras should do so too. But he is considering running for re-election, a bet that is not well appreciated, at least not by the ERC majority in government and in the executive branch.
The manifesto 'Reactivem ERC', which has already been signed by almost 500 party members, is committed to a 'general renewal of leadership'. The text was signed by the acting Vice President of the Government, Laura Vilagrà; the Deputy Minister Sergi Sabrià; and councilors Roger Torrent, Ester Capella, Natàlia Garriga, David Mascort, Meritxell Serret and Manel Balcells. Tània Verge, who has been an ERC activist since the Catalan election campaign, was added later.
According to joint information from the ACN agency and Rac1, the manifesto will not be signed – if there is no twist in the script – by Minister Joan Ignasi Elena, who is very close to Junqueras. And at the moment neither Natalia Mas nor Anna Simó have done it. In turn, Carles Campuzano, Gemma Ubasart and Quim Nadal could not sign the manifesto because they are not ERC militants.
The majority in Palau, like Rovira, is therefore in favor of the ERC renewing its leadership at the Congress on November 30. And as Aid to the Church in Need and Rac1 have been able to verify after conversations with a dozen sources, this statement is also supported by the majority of the members of the executive party leadership, based in Calabria.
Some of them also signed the manifesto, such as the parliamentary spokesperson and deputy to the general secretary, Marta Vilalta; the spokesperson and first vice-president of the Parliamentary Council, Raquel Sans; Senator Sara Bailac; Mayor Dionís Guiteras; the alternate and head of the list for Girona at 12-M, Laia Cañigueral; councilors Adriana Delgado and Marta Vilaret; and other management leaders such as Jordi Roig, Eloi Hernández, Alba Camps, Marta Molina (one of those investigated for terrorism due to the tsunami), Jordi Castellana, Pau Presas, Ester Alberich or Mariona Homs.
The majority of proponents of this “general renewal” also prevail over the permanent leadership. And while not all members of the smaller body have signed the text, the acting president himself, Pere Aragonès; The chairman of the parliamentary group, Josep Maria Jové, or Rovira herself – as she has already publicly stated – also support a renewal of the leadership.
Junqueras' entourage finds it 'logical' that the majority of ERC members in the government and party leadership are closer to Rovira's position than to that of the former Republican president. Junqueras states that he could not choose the names of the councilors – because it was a power of Aragonès. At the same time, he defends that he could not choose the names with which he wanted to be part of the executive power and that it is therefore normal that his trusted environment is in the minority. So the squires They believe that Rovira may have a majority in the organization's structure, but the former president may have the upper hand among the bases.
Junqueras and the party leaders around him criticize both the content of the manifesto and the way it was prepared. Sources consulted by Aid to the Church in Need and Rac1 confirm that the initiators of the manifesto themselves claimed: at the National Council on Saturday, that the debate at the November 30 congress and the leadership of the party would be conducted from the bases. And they believe the manifesto has been shaped by positions with weight in the party, rather than consulting the views of the militant group.
A former leader who has also been critical of the manifesto is the former leader of Madrid Joan Tardà: “I regret that I was not worthy enough to be part of the 300 signatories who were asked to sign the manifesto in which national left and renewal For the sole reason that I believe that both objectives do not necessarily require Junqueras to be thrown in the trash,” he wrote online. The current spokesperson in Madrid, Gabriel Rufián, has shared Tardà's message. The current deputy spokesperson in Madrid, Teresa Jordà, is one of the signatories of the manifesto, as well as the deputy in Congress Pilar Vallugera.