Oriol Junqueras Faces a Decisive Week for ERC With the Threat of a Split

ERC's membership chose Oriol Junqueras as the party's president in December, during the first phase of the congress. This weekend (March 15 and 16), the Republicans are holding the second phase of the congress. It will be as important or even more so than the presidential election, because the presentations that will set the ideological and strategic course of the party will be debated and voted on.

Oriol Junqueras took an essential step by securing the presidency, but he did so with a very narrow margin. He now faces the second phase of the congress with two crucial challenges: imposing his party model and avoiding a split.

Junqueras faces this new stage in the presidency with the ambition of turning ERC into a party that is not strictly pro-independence. The task is not minor. It involves broadening the base on the left, incorporating new sectors that make social policies a means to achieve independence and not the other way around.

Obvious Risk of Split

This obviously puts him at odds with the pro-independence sectors of the party, who are very critical of ERC's drift in recent years. Among these critics is the officialist sector close to Marta Rovira, who are in favor of forcing a pro-independence shift from within. But there are also the radical pro-independence members who feel excluded from the party and increasingly pushed toward a split.

The risk of a defection of members and voters is evident and a reality. While it is true that there is a clear voter boundary between Junts and Aliança Catalana, the transfer of Republicans to orriolism is not uncommon either.

The latest to make the move was ERC's former candidate in Amer, Eduard Àngel. But previously, the former spokesperson in Olot, Jordi Coma, the former mayor of Alpicat, Tamon Abad, or the former mayor of Castelló de Farfanya, Cristina Lafay, had done so. Also, the former mayor of ERC in Les Borges Blanques, Miquel Àngel Estradé, has shown his distance from the current leadership and his closeness to Aliança Catalana.

This opens the door to a split, and the tension is becoming evident especially in some local sections. Recovering unity is Oriol Junqueras's main challenge in this decisive phase of the foundational congress, but it will not be easy for him.

Congress Marked by Fracture

Oriol Junqueras has relied on Joan Tardà to impose leftist theses in this second phase of the congress. They propose, for example, exploring broad fronts with Comuns and the CUP, for electoral appointments or even within the same formation. Junqueras's great ambition is to transform ERC into the new Catalan labor party.

Both Nova Esquerra Nacional and Foc Nou have submitted amendments to the entirety of Oriol Junqueras's project and want to fight.

The rovirists led by Xavier Godàs and Alba Camps will propose several amendments to the presentations, but one stands out above all. They want to push for a change in the statutes to prevent Junqueras from perpetuating himself in the presidency. Militància Decidim wants to set the limit in 2040, while Nova Esquerra Decidim wants to limit his term to 2029.

In contrast, Alfred Bosch's group focuses on strategy with an amendment to the entirety of the Junquerist project. Against the leftist shift, they propose a pro-independence shift, with a plan to achieve the Catalan Republic in 2030. Both Nova Esquerra Nacional and Foc Nou will try to formalize the internal currents within the party.