Republican Left of Catalonia

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Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya
President	Joan Puigcercós i Boixassa
General Secretary	Joan Ridao i Martín
Founded	March 19, 1931
Headquarters	C/Calàbria, 166 08015 Barcelona
Ideology	Catalan independentism, republicanism, Left-wing nationalism
International affiliation	None
European affiliation	European Free Alliance
European Parliament Group	European Greens-European Free Alliance
Official colours	Orange
Website www.esquerra.cat

The Republican Left of Catalonia (Catalan: Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, ERC) is a left-wing Catalan independentist political party in Spain campaigning for the independence of Catalonia from this country. It is also the main sponsor of the independence movement from France and Spain in the territories known among Catalan nationalists as Països Catalans.

Its current president is Joan Puigcercós i Boixassa and its secretary-general is Joan Ridao i Martín.

Contents 1 Political principles and representation 2 History 3 Presidents of Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya 4 General Secretaries of Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya 5 References 6 See also 6.1 External links

[edit] Political principles and representation

Its basic political principles are defined in the Statement of Ideology approved at the 19th National Congress in 1993. This is organised into the three areas that give the organisation its name: Esquerra (commitment to the Left's agenda in the political debate), República (commitment to the Republican form of government vs. Spain's current constitutional monarchy) and Catalunya (Catalan independentism, which, as understood by ERC, comprises the so-called "Catalan Countries").

Despite having been one of the main forces behind the movement for amendment, the party eventually opposed the 2006 changes to the Catalan Statute of Autonomy to increase Catalonia's autonomy. It did so on the grounds that it did not do enough to increase Catalan independence. This caused a government crisis with its partners (specially with the PSC) which led to an early election in 2006.

Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya has currently 21 seats (3rd group by seats) in the Catalan Parliament, where it is one of the three coalition members of the current tripartite left-wing Catalan Government. It was briefly expelled from this coalition in May 2006 because of the many tensions the PSC-PSOE (Socialists' Party of Catalonia) and ERC had accumulated during their coalition government, being the turning point ERC's opposition in the last instance to the project of a new Statute of Autonomy in which redaction ERC has had partial lead.

It has 3 seats (5th group by seats) in the Spanish Parliament and 1 seat in the European Parliament.

[edit] History

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Led by Francesc Macià in 1931, the party declared an independent Catalan Republic that was curtailed by the new Constitution of the Second Spanish Republic.

In 1934, led by Lluís Companys, the elected Catalan President, the party declared an independent Catalan Republic within the Spanish Federation proposed by Companys, following the entry of right-wing ministers of CEDA into the Government of the Spanish Republic, however the party leaders (including Companys) and all the Catalan Government (called Generalitat) were arrested and jailed for this, and special autonomy laws for Catalonia were suspended until 1936 .

In 1936, at the dawn of the Spanish Civil War, ERC decided to become part of the Spanish Popular Front to contest that year's election, which it won. Esquerra became the leading force of the Popular Front in Catalonia and tried to maintain the unity of the Front in the face of growing tensions between the POUM and Communists.

The party was declared illegal (along with all other participants in the Popular Front) by Francisco Franco after he came to power in 1939 . The former president of the Catalan Generalitat, Lluís Companys, was arrested by German agents in collaboration with Vichy France, returned to Spain and executed in 1940.

The party is also federated with parties in the Balearic Islands and in Northern Catalonia in France, as well as with Republican Left of the Valencian Country in the Valencian Community. Except for their Balearic counterpart, none of the latter currently have any parliamentary representation in their respective territories, though they do hold some municipal councilors.

[edit] Presidents of Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya

1. Francesc Macià i Llussà (1931-1933)
2. Lluís Companys i Jover (1933-1935)
3. Carles Pi i Sunyer (1933-1935)
4. Lluís Companys i Jover (1936-1940)
5. Heribert Barrera (1993-1995)
6. Jaume Campabadal (1995-1996)
7. Jordi Carbonell i de Ballester (1996-2004)
8. Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira (2004-2008)
9. Joan Puigcercós i Boixassa (2008-present)

[edit] General Secretaries of Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya

1. Joan Lluís Pujol i Font (March 1931 - April 1931)
2. Josep Tarradellas i Joan (April 1931 - March 1932)
3. Joan Tauler (March 1932 - 1938)
4. Josep Tarradellas i Joan (1938 - 1957)
5. Joan Sauret (1957 - 1976)
6. Heribert Barrera (1976-1987)
7. Joan Hortalà (1987-1989)
8. Àngel Colom Colom (1989-1996)
9. Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira (1996-2004)
10. Joan Puigcercós i Boixassa (2004-2008)
11. Joan Ridao i Martín (2008-present)

[edit] References

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2007)

[edit] See also

• Catalan Parliament election, 2006
• List of political parties in Catalonia
• Young Republican Left of Catalonia
• Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia

[edit] External links

• Site of the party (Catalan)
• Ideological declaration (English) (PDF)
• ERC’s brief history (English) (PDF)
• Joventuts de l'Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya Youth section's site (Catalan)
• Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira (Catalan)

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