Left-Wing Independence Party (ERC) not to sit in Catalan Government despite winning European elections

Barcelona (ACN).- The President of the Left-Wing Catalan Independence Party (ERC) Oriol Junqueras has confirmed that they will not sit in the Catalan Government “for the moment”, despite having been offered the chance on many occasions by the governing Centre-Right pro-Catalan State Coalition (CiU), and winning Sunday’s European elections. It was the first time in 37 years of democracy that the ERC had won an election in Catalonia. Instead, Junqueras praised the leadership of the President of the Catalan Government and CiU head, Artur Mas, which he called “stronger than ever”. The CiU won some 100,000 additional votes on Sunday compared to 2009, although its percentage of the vote decreased slightly since turnout grew considerably. However, the People’s Party Secretary General, María Dolores de Cospedal, insisted that the elections were “a warning message to Mas”. Despite self-determination parties having clearly won the elections in Catalonia and the fact that the PP had its share of the vote halved, de Cospedal rejected the idea that support for independence is increasing. The PP, whom are currently in government in Spain, have for the past two years been downplaying Catalans’ support for self-determination and independence, even though protests, polls and elections point towards a totally different state of affairs. This Monday, de Cospedal re-affirmed the Spanish Government’s ‘no-to-everything’ attitude and its strategy to directly oppose independence and self-determination by pretending to ignore the problem rather than address it; waiting for it to fade away or at least become less pressing. Meanwhile, the leader of the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE), Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, announced he will not try to renew his office and will quit in a few weeks time.

Today, the day after a political earthquake occurred in Catalonia and Spain via Sunday’s European elections, the parties were assessing the results. At Spanish level, the PP and the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) lost more than 5 million votes combined, despite a slight increase in turnout. In terms of their number of candidates elected as MEPs, they lost 8 and 6 respectively. In fact, the PP and the PSOE went from achieving a combined total of 80% of the vote in 2009 to not being able to reach the 50% mark, with support for them standing at 49%. Meanwhile, the smaller parties have experienced significant increases, particularly the post-Communist and Green Socialist Coalitions La Izquierda Plural, where the Catalan ICV-EUiA ran, which grew from 2 to 6 MEPs. Similarly, the alternative-left and citizen platform Podemos (‘We can’), which is composed of a group of people outraged with the current political and economic system in Spain and which was running in an election for the first time, obtained 5 MEPs, while the PP got 16 and the PSOE 14. The Spanish nationalist and populist party UPyD also increased its support and went from having 1 MEP to having 4. Due to the increase in votes for these three parties at Spanish level, and particularly the losses suffered by the PP and PSOE, many are saying that bi-partisanship is over in Spain.

Once again, Catalonia’s results drew a different political landscape than in the rest of Spain, as tends to happen in each election. However, this time four elements were particularly noticeable. Firstly, turnout increased from 36.9% to 47.4% in Catalonia, while decreasing in many other parts of Spain. Secondly, self-determination parties won the elections by a great margin, obtaining more than 61% of votes cast in Catalonia. Thirdly, the Left-Wing Catalan Independence Party (ERC) won elections for the first time since 1930s. Finally, the Centre-Right pro-Catalan State Coalition lost support in terms of its percentage of the vote but not in absolute terms, since it won 100,000 additional voters despite being in power in the Catalan Government for the past 4 years, where it had to implement a number of budget cuts. On top of this, as in the rest of Spain, support for the PP and the PSOE plummeted, in the case of Catalonia quite sharply. The PP achieved half its previous level of support, going from 18% to 9.2% of the vote in Catalonia, while the Socialists lost almost two-thirds of its support, dropping from 36% to 14.2%.

The PP insists on downplaying self-determination and attacking the Catalan President

María Dolores de Cospedal rejected the idea that the electoral results showed greater support for independence in Catalonia, despite a pro-independence party having won the elections. She thinks this because the sum of the CiU and the ERC votes in Sunday’s elections are less than those they obtained in the last elections to the Catalan Parliament in November 2012. Last Sunday the turnout was 47.4%, while in the 2012 elections – which were presented as a plebiscite on holding a self-determination vote – the turnout reached 70%, the highest ever for Catalan Parliament elections. Since the CiU did not win last Sunday’s elections – disregarding the fact that European elections in Catalonia are traditionally won by the Socialist Party (PSC) – de Cospedal interpreted this fact as “a warning message” to the Catalan President Artur Mas and CiU’s leader. De Cospedal said she was not worried by the fall in the PP vote in Catalonia, linking it to “the abstention” that was experienced throughout Spain.

The ERC praises Mas’ leadership and says they will not sit in the Catalan Government

The day after the ERC won their first elections since the 1930s, the party’s President Oriol Junqueras stated that they are not planning to sit in the Catalan Government, despite the CiU having offered them the opportunity on many occasions during the past year. The CiU and the ERC share a parliamentary stability agreement, but the Centre-Right coalition runs the Catalan Government alone, with the Left-Wing Independence Party being the second largest party in the Catalan Parliament. Junqueras stated that “for the time being”, they will not join Mas’ cabinet, since he considers the current model as guaranteeing “a strong” institutional stability. This stability is considered “essential” for the ERC to move forward in regard to Catalonia’s self-determination process. On top of this, Junqueras stated that Mas’ leadership is stronger than ever, despite the CiU not winning yesterday’s elections. The CiU obtained 100,000 additional votes, despite the budget cuts it has implemented.

The CiU asks the Spanish PM to listen to the Catalan people

The CiU’s ‘number 2’, the Christian-Democrat leader Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida, also insisted that Mas’ government is not weaker after these last elections. However, he also stated that the Spanish Government is also no weaker, despite the PP losing 2.5 million votes compared to 2009. Duran i Lleida asked the Spanish Prime Minister and the PP leader, Mariano Rajoy, “not to be deaf” to the victory of pro-self-determination parties in the last elections. In this vein, the CiU ‘number 2’, who supports self-determination but personally opposes independence, asked Rajoy “to make a move” and propose something to the Catalan society. Many believe that after the European elections and before the 9^th of November deadline (the date for holding an independence vote in Catalonia, as agreed on by a majority of Catalan parties), Rajoy is likely to present a political and fiscal offer in order to reduce support for independence. However, many others believe that Rajoy will continue with his ‘no-to-everything’ strategy and will not make any significant move, since it may be interpreted by Spanish nationalists as a sign of weakness.