Aragonès seeks to relaunch his electoral career at the close of the EH Bildu campaign

The Basque elections, which are held this Sunday, are also the scene of the electoral struggle brewing in Catalonia. The closeness that the defunct Convergència had maintained with the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) is not unknown and, now, the negotiations for the investiture of Pedro Sánchez have staged the agreement with his heirs of Junts per Catalunya. In the case of Esquerra Republicana (ERC) and EH Bildu, the relationship is much deeper, since both formations even revalidated last month their joint list for the European Parliament in June. These alliances are visible unevenly these days: the

and national coordinator of ERC, Pere Aragonès, will seek to breathe life into his electoral career in the face of adverse polls by participating in the closing of the

while Junts chooses not to get involved in the race for Ajuria Enea.

The two couples have reached different agreements about their relationship and this will be evident in the final stretch of the Basque campaign, where all eyes are on whether Pello Otxandiano (EH Bildu) wins against Imanol Pradales (PNV). At ERC and EH Bildu they believe that valuing their proximity adds value and, as happened in the last municipal and general elections, they share rallies, thus highlighting not only the similarities in the national agenda but also their unity of action in Congress and in the Senate —where they share a bench. Aragonès will be at the closing of Otxandiano's campaign, in an event that is also part of the pre-campaign of his own quest to revalidate the Government of the Generalitat on 12-M.

In Junts and the PNV they choose another path. Sources from the Catalan party recall that

Carles Puigdemont and the president of the Basque party, Andoni Ortuzar, agreed in their meeting last September in Belgium that there would be reciprocity in the participation in their party events, although leaving out electoral campaigns. In the meeting with which the Peneuvistas rehabilitated the figure of the founder of Junts as a political interlocutor after the distancing during the years of the

it was also agreed to explore the issues where they can go together in Congress. The Catalan campaign of 2006 is long gone, when the then PNV resident, Josu Jon Imaz, supported a young Artur Mas who was trying to win the presidency of the Generalitat.

The script has been fulfilled to the letter. The

of Junts, Jordi Turull, participated on September 24 in the celebration of the traditional Alderdi Eguna (PNV match day), in the fields of Foronda, in Vitoria. A month later, both parliamentary groups sealed their renewed collaboration with a photo after it was abruptly broken by the clash between Puigdemont and Lehendakari Iñigo Urkullu after the latter tried unsuccessfully to mediate in 2017 during the process crisis

the Generalitat and the central government. Republicans have seven seats in Congress, the same as Junts. EH Bildu has six seats in the lower house, one more than the PNV. The clamp between those of Puigdemont and those of Ortuzar, therefore, also seeks to neutralize the axis to the left of the majority that supports Sánchez.

“Our link with Bildu is strategic. We have many points in common,” summarizes Juli Fernández, Secretary of Strategy of ERC. The former Territory Councilor also remembers that a few weeks ago the commitment to go jointly to the European elections was revalidated for the third time. Beyond coordination in the Chambers, the party leaders have a permanent working commission. For ERC, in addition to Fernández, there is Marta Vilalta, deputy general secretary. By EH Bildu, its heads of international relations Gorka Elejabarrieta and Igor Zulaika.

Aragonès will close a collaboration with EH Bildu, which for these Basque elections opened its

in the Catalan Executive, Laura Vilagrà. The vice president was in charge, on the 10th, of opening a rally in Sestao (Bizkaia). The event coincided with the publication of the electoral CIS and the Republican was carried away by the euphoria of the good forecasts for EH Bildu. ”The solutions of the past are no longer valid. Now it is time for political courage, a firm commitment to citizens, new leadership,” said Vilagrà, thus advocating an end to 40 years of domination by the

as the Peneuvistas are known in Euskadi. For Aragonès, with adverse polls, a photo next to the winner of the Basque race would serve as a prelude to his own campaign.

What affects the most is what happens closest. So you don't miss anything, subscribe.

Subscribe

_