The spokesperson for the Comuns and candidate for mayor of Barcelona, Gerardo Pisarello, has invited the ERC spokesperson in Congress, Gabriel Rufián, to take the “step” of joining the Frente Amplio if he believes that it makes sense to be part of a project with other state forces, an invitation that was already made by the former mayor of Barcelona Ada Colau this Friday.
In statements to the media this Saturday, Pisarello explained that there have been conversations with Rufián because, he says, he is a colleague with whom they agree on many things, although he added that if he decides to be the ERC candidate it is “legitimate” and they will find another way to collaborate both with ERC and with forces such as Bildu and the BNG.
"If he is thinking that it makes sense to be part of a broad front with state-level forces, we believe that it is important that he say so, that it is important that he raise it and, taking into account that for many people in the rest of the State he is a very well-valued name, we invite him to take this step," he remarked.
He highlighted that Rufián has been “one of the first people to point out the urgency of the moment”, in a situation that he considers exceptional in the face of the alternative of a Government led by PP and Vox.
“We are fully open to this possibility,” he stressed, and indicated that it is time for Rufián to make a decision in this regard.
Regarding the articulation of the Frente Amplio, he has stated that they are working discreetly, talking to everyone and has been optimistic: “The same street is pushing us to reach agreements, to talk among ourselves and, therefore, that names are coming out, that proposals are coming out that were unthinkable a while ago,” he pointed out.
“If the tenant unions, the labor unions, have been able to agree to have a general strike to show the rentiers that they cannot continue committing these abuses, the parties, the political forces, we have to be up to the task.
“We are convinced that we will reach a solution, to propose a tool that is up to date with the times,” he added, and expressed satisfaction that different political groups have proposed Colau to head this space.
Pisarello has defended that this front has to be as broad and as representative as possible with the “maximum capacity to go beyond” the PSOE's policies because, he warns, when the PSOE is left alone, it veers to the right.
Asked if they set a deadline to close an agreement on the coalition, he responded that they will make every possible effort until the deadline to register expires, and insisted on the need to collect the voice of the street and honor the memory of Maricarmen and the rest of the people “sentenced to death” for speculative policies.
Regarding possible agreements with the PSOE to run together on the Senate lists, he pointed out that we have to “work with compass” constituency by constituency because, he warns, the importance of the upper house cannot be underestimated and it cannot be left in the hands of the right.
He has also valued the call for a general strike for housing and salaries on November 11, something that, he said, is “very important,” and he believes that support must be given to the mobilizations in the streets.
In this sense, he has stated that the parties are obliged to "generate institutional alternatives that reflect as best as possible what the street is asking for."
