The president of the municipal group of ERC at the Barcelona City Council, Ernest Maragall, who will leave the minutes of councilor and the first political line before the end of the year, yesterday encouraged his party to open a new stage after the turning point that the amnesty will mean, thinking especially about the next Catalan elections. The councilor said that "new leadership" will be needed, in an interview in the morning, a consideration that he clarified later in a press conference.
"We are at a turning point that affects us all, the country and also the city - he said with some force in an interview with El món on RAC1 -. If it is a new stage, it seems to me that it is appropriate that the past does not condition the present, rather the present must be oriented towards the future and involve new approaches, new orientations, new leadership". In this sense, when he was asked about whether Elisenda Alamany should be his replacement in Barcelona, he replied: "I don't have to have an opinion or a decision on this; it is obvious that Alamany's name is on the table, but we are in a new stage".
At the press conference, which took place at noon after the meeting of the party's executive, Maragall detailed in a softer tone that "it is a good time for ERC to go out and conquer the country with more courage and a concrete vision , country model", which is why he called for "putting all the meat on the grill, all the leadership and personal and collective strength". In this sense, he recalled that "there are Catalan elections in a year and the ERC will decide, if that means personal relays". On the last issue, he made it clear that "these are questions that the organization must answer when it believes. I am not questioning anything or anyone in particular. Ours is a consolidated collective heritage". And to leave no doubt, he recalled that the party already chose its leadership in January.
As for the City Council, Maragall specified that "it would be unpresentable" for him to appoint his successor, so he pointed out that it is up to the Barcelona federation to determine who it will be. He also left in the hands of the party the position on an eventual entry or external support to the minority government of the socialist Jaume Collboni.
