CUP leadership proposes skipping Spain's 29 November general election, pending member vote

CUP leadership proposes standing aside

The National Table of the CUP, the party's highest political leadership body, met for the whole of Saturday in Barcelona and decided not to run in the general election of 29 November. The table concluded that 'currently the political conditions do not exist' for a candidacy. Because the final position must be ratified by members, an online vote opens on Sunday at 7.00 and stays open for 24 hours. Spokespeople will announce the result at a press conference on Monday, 12 October. The CUP last held seats in Congress after the November 2019 election, when it won two, and lost all parliamentary representation in the July 2023 election. The early election was called by president of the government Pedro Sánchez, who had planned the next vote for 2027, and the party had kept open the option of running while it debated its role.

Explaining the internal debate last Monday, national spokesperson Su Moreno said:

We are debating several scenarios, constantly analysing the situation.

A left bloc without a joint list

With about a week left before candidate lists are registered, the space left of the PSOE has not agreed how to run together or who would lead it. The only significant step so far is the name Frente Amplio, which would bring together Movimiento Sumar, Izquierda Unida, Comunes and Más Madrid. Podemos and the regional parties are going their own way, Chunta Aragonesista has opened the door to joining Frente Amplio, and Compromís and Adelante Andalucía have said they will not join. Más Madrid proposed former Barcelona mayor Ada Colau to head the candidacy three days earlier without consulting the other parties, and the proposal did not sit well with IU and Sumar. Pablo Iglesias and Yolanda Díaz, who led this space in the previous two general elections, have stepped aside after internal disagreements.

Colau then addressed the question of Gabriel Rufián on La Sexta:

I am willing to help him if he decides not only to be a candidate for Catalonia, but also to exercise that leadership to unify the left at state level.

ERC and the Rufián question

ERC secretary general Elisenda Alamany told El Nacional that Gabriel Rufián will be the party's head of list in the 29 November election. The position inside Esquerra is less settled, since party president Oriol Junqueras has resisted diluting the party's name in a broader left alliance. Rufián has said he wants to be the Republican representative, and people close to Junqueras answered that 'the candidate is Gabriel Rufián'. Rufián has until Sunday to present his name as head of list for ERC in Barcelona and to deliver the 400 endorsements required. Alamany also accused Salvador Illa of not lamenting that Catalonia loses 4,700 million for its financing because of the election call.

Alamany linked the national campaign to the municipal elections due next May, in which she will be the candidate for Barcelona city council, and criticised the short timeframe:

It is a mistake to set election campaigns in only 15 days, in the sense that for four years we have tried to convince people that we are the ones closest to their problems.

Deadlines and what comes next

Candidate lists must be filed by 26 October, and parties running in coalition have about a week left to notify the Electoral Board. Podemos proposes open primaries on Wednesday and Thursday to choose its candidates, with registration also open this Sunday. On Monday the CUP will announce whether it stays off the ballot, and the answer will settle whether the party presents any candidacy on 29 November. The Frente Amplio project still depends on Más Madrid, Izquierda Unida, Comuns and Sumar agreeing on a leader, while Rufián's position depends on the ERC process and on whether he gathers the endorsements he needs by Sunday.