The leadership of Junts per Catalunya addresses this afternoon at an executive meeting the election of the next president of the Parliament, almost a year after the replacement of Laura Borràs in the Catalan Chamber began to be considered, when the forecast was that the process that It has stripped him of the act of deputy out faster than it has been in the end. Thus, the person who leaves this afternoon's meeting anointed will have the support of the JxCat and Esquerra Republicana groups in the plenary session that will be held to elect the new president of the institution and, if the planned script is met, will be the second authority of Catalonia.
The name that has sounded the most from the beginning is that of Anna Erra, vice president of the formation and acting mayor of Vic. In June 2022, after the first phase of the Junts congress, she announced that she would not aspire to another term in the municipal government of the capital of Osona and since then she has always been in all the pools. In addition, in that conclave, in Argelers, she was the second leader of JxCat who added the most votes, only behind the general secretary, Jordi Turull. She was even ahead of the president of the formation, Borràs.
Most likely, the executive meeting will start with a name already agreed upon in advance, since the last thing they want in Junts, with the elections on July 23 just around the corner, a favorable wind and after a sweet moment Due to the good results two weeks ago in the municipal elections, it is that there is internal noise on this matter.
In the dance of names of this last year, Marta Madrenas, who was mayor of Girona and did not aspire to re-election either, has also figured at times, but she will be the head of the list of the formation for the elections next month for the province of Girona , which leaves it out of the equation.
From the Borràs environment, attempts have been made to condition the debate on more than one occasion, with the second secretary of the Bureau, Aurora Madaula, as the voice of the party president. But on the two occasions that he has suggested that the decision of the relief should be taken by Borràs himself, he has been disapproved by his party colleagues.
But Borràs herself, beyond pointing out that the deputy who will replace her in the group, Antoni Castellà, leader of Demòcrates, would be a "magnificent president", has avoided talking about names. Castellà has experience as a deputy and as a member of the governing body of the Chamber, but organically he does not belong to Junts, although he is with Carles Puigdemont in the Consell per la República. Sources close to Borràs point out that what is important is what is done from the presidency of the Parliament and give an example that she herself at some point acted as a counterpower to the president of the Generalitat.
Apart from the election of the candidate for president of the Parliament, it remains to be seen what happens in Barcelona and if the deputies who were on the list of Xavier Trias –Josep Rius and Titon Laïlla for Barcelona and the ex-minister Ramon Tremosa for Lleida– leave the seat to focus on the Catalan capital. That Junts, as everything seems to indicate, ends up heading the municipal government will be decisive. There are those who are considering the possibility that parliamentarians with councilor minutes leave the Catalan Chamber, although they are not obliged to do so. In this way, the former deputy Elena Fort and the secretary of organization of the formation, David Torrents – close to Borràs – would enter the group through Barcelona, who until two weeks ago was mayor of Badalona but did not obtain representation in the elections of 28 May.
Be that as it may, the replacement of Borràs will serve to stage next Friday in Parliament the unity of Junts and ERC, at a time when both formations have rebuilt the bridges after the 28-M elections, in which a significant part of the pro-independence electorate stayed at home. In fact, both organizations met discreetly in Geneva to explore options with an eye on the general elections in July that Pedro Sánchez called by surprise a week ago.
