Avoiding second plebiscite and maximizing support: reasons for CDC and ERC to run separately
The two parties have agreed on a variety of formulas to show strategic unity, such as joint actions in Madrid’s Congress, common elements to their platforms, and a shared manifesto with social support
The pro-independence answer to the conundrum of the Spanish general elections on December 20th (20-D) has unfolded. After the CUP didn’t even contemplate running in the Spanish elections --to the point of saying that the independence movement shouldn’t even be present--, CDC and ERC publicly announced on Friday that they will both run, and will do so separately, for both the Spanish Congress and Senate. ARA had already revealed that the Republicans had been working in this direction since last Saturday, although the final agreement between the two forces took shape this week. That said, the leaders of both parties don’t want their separate tickets to spur conflicts between two groups that ran together on 27-S and share the same group in the Catalan parliament. That is why the staging for the agreement was planned by Josep Rull, general coordinator of CDC, and Marta Rovira, Secretary General of ERC, and a common document was signed and sealed --which contradicts the opinions of some CDC leaders, including Artur Mas, who had called for a repeat of the joint coalition during the previous electoral campaign.
Both Rull and Rovira argued for the decision to run separately. Their basic reasons can be summarized as follows:
Plebiscite no more. Rull said that "on 27-S there was a referendum, and the "Yes" option won in votes and in seats, and now it is time to defend this mandate", while Rovira agreed that "on 27-S we won the referendum, and referendums only happen once", which is why "it makes no sense to repeat" the coalition that was formed to turn those elections into a plebiscite. Instead, according to the agreement just made public, the objective of 20-D is not to repeat the referendum, but to "present a response to the Spanish agenda as laid out in the roadmap for the construction of a new independent state for Catalonia".
To win the maximum number of seats. To defend the 27-S mandate, Rull noted that it is necessary "to maximize our space, the space that CDC and ERC represent", and "broaden the base of the independence movement, and this can best be done by each group from their own ideological position". Rovira agreed, but added a further element: that on 27-S there was a coalition (Junts pel Sí, Together for Yes), which united CDC and ERC, but there was also the CUP: "We had two lists that covered the spectrum from the radical left to the center-left and center-right, and now we also have two lists, with the desire to represent the entire spectrum of the pro-independence movement". Thus, ERC will try, with its candidacy encompassing strong civic and municipal representation, to cover the flank of the CUP, and will do so with the tandem of Joan Tardà, Congressional representative, and Súmate’s Gabriel Rufián, two clearly leftist profiles that still have to divide up the first and second slots on the ERC slate.
Despite running as two separate lists, CDC and ERC want to make it clear that they will deploy a campaign with virtually no conflicts between the two respective candidacies, as they believe that this could be damaging to pro-independence unity in Parliament and in an eventual joint government in Catalonia, which they hope to agree to with the CUP in the coming weeks. How will they preserve "fair play"? Today they presented some formulas:
United action. Rull and Rovira explained that the representatives and senators from each party will jointly defend the road map towards independence, as well as the actions of the Catalan parliament and government to implement it. "The objective is clear: for the independence movement to have a very significant number of representatives and senators who defend the mandate of 27-S", noted the CDC leader, and the Secretary General of ERC agreed: "We will bring the democratic mandate of 27-S to the Spanish Congress, and defend it there. We will defend it with united political action in all that is related to its compliance". Indeed, both noted that they will probably give up their seats as soon as Catalan independence takes effect.
Springing from a united program. To emphasize that the commitment to independence is common and "solid as a rock"-- in the words of Rull--, CDC and ERC will share a part of a common program that refers back to the pro-independence roadmap, which will be a hybrid between the Junts pel Sí program in this area and the declaration of the start of the process towards independence agreed upon with the CUP. "This will be reflected in a document that will be the common point of our electoral manifesto, which we will make public in the coming days", said Rovira.
Support from other organizations and groups. The manifesto that will become a shared part of the two platforms will be open to contributions from other political organizations and pro-independence groups, which will receive and discuss it soon. It will be made public once their support has been granted. These other associations will also present shared social support for both candidacies.
In addition, CDC and ERC will study other formulas to show united action by the two candidacies. They have not ruled out , for example, holding some electoral events together, but this is still being discussed.
