The president of ERC, Oriol Junqueras, has launched an attack on the management of the president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, whom he has reproached for his lack of ambition. "Without ambition, management is doomed to failure," he said, calling for his party to assume a central role when directing Catalonia.
At a press conference held this Monday, he has claimed ERC as the force that "can provide the most reasonableness and ambition at the same time" for the next electoral cycle, which will begin with the general elections on 29 November and continue with the municipal elections of May 2027 and the Catalan elections.
He has warned that "PP and Vox will do as much damage as they can to Catalonia" if they prevail in the general elections, and he has criticized the socialists for their lack of ambition, Junts for what he considers a lack of responsibility, and the Comuns for their neglect.
In this regard, he has censured that the socialists "have never been in a hurry" to reform the funding model or to resolve the chaos in Rodalies. He has also accused Junts of acting without responsibility and of trying to block in Congress measures such as amnesty, funding, the collection of the IRPF, and the processing of the new system of autonomous funding.
Regarding the Comuns of Ada Colau, he has reproached them for not having driven "any effective initiative in the service of the people of this country" and he has reminded them that, despite governing for 8 years in Barcelona, they did not adopt concrete decisions on housing.
Calls for the maximum support for ERC
In light of this outlook, Junqueras has argued that ERC should receive the greatest backing possible because, in his view, it is the only party that will defend Catalonia. He has reiterated that the Government of Salvador Illa "has failed not only because it has not known how to manage, but because it has not had the necessary ambition" to provide Catalonia with more tools, resources, and competences.
"That does not mean that ERC is not willing to help," he clarified, before then emphasizing that the time has come for ERC not only to collaborate, but to assume the responsibility of leading Catalonia, in reference to future Catalan elections in which he would present himself as a candidate.
He has demanded stability for Catalunya after "two decades of great instability in the world, in Europe and in Spain," and has warned that an Executive of PP and Vox would be equally unstable. He has described Santiago Abascal's formation as a larger and more pointed stone than what Sumar has represented for the PSOE.
Asked whether a possible central Government of PP and Vox would alter the course of the Catalan legislature, Junqueras has admitted that the legislature "will be complicated without a doubt, but the country will move forward."
The Republican leader has stressed that ERC's task will be "to help" the different sectors of the country and build majorities to make it possible, and he called on social and economic agents to get involved in that objective.
Debate about unilateralism
Asked whether the ambition he claims involves unilateralism, Junqueras has replied that he supports any democratic path: "It doesn't matter to me if they call it unilateral, plurilateral, multilateral..."
His words come after the former president of the Generalitat and leader of Junts, Carles Puigdemont, said that there will come a moment when independence movements will not only be unable to rule out unilateral acts, but it will also not be possible to renounce them.
In relation to the general strike of November 11, Junqueras has defended that it is "not only timely, but necessary and essential," and has confirmed that he will take part in the pickets and in the rally scheduled for Plaza Universitat.