Overview
- ERC activated its candidate-selection process with a registration window and a requirement that hopefuls gather 5% of party members' endorsements, a threshold that must be met by October 11 and with full lists due for ratification on October 17.
- Party leadership publicly named Gabriel Rufián its preferred candidate while Rufián himself has entered a period of reflection and says he will consult other left forces before confirming whether he will head the list.
- The party’s rules say a single candidate who meets the endorsement threshold will be proclaimed directly and that contested races would trigger primaries, a mechanism that gives Rufián until the endorsement deadline to avoid a vote.
- ERC warned that the snap November 29 election has put at risk agreements reached with the national government on regional financing, partial debt relief from the FLA, and investment projects tied to the Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona.
- Beyond the Madrid contest, ERC’s leadership rules out Oriol Junqueras as a candidate for Congress and maintains he is positioned to run for the Catalan presidency, a stance that could change only if court decisions alter his legal status.