Oriol Junqueras likes university and long answers. And invited by Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) to a conference promoted by Diari de Barcelona, the students’ newspaper; the president of ERC dedicated a good part of his speech this Friday to the future of the legislature, the alleged corruption of the PSOE, and the conflict of teachers in Catalonia.
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Before a hundred students, Junqueras defended the viability of the legislature. “We don’t give anything up for dead, and if something dies, we resurrect it if necessary,” he assured, to the point of pointing out that the PSOE believes less in Sánchez’s future in La Moncloa than the republican side. In any case, Junqueras warned that his support for Sánchez in Congress would end if cases of illegal financing were confirmed. “Our commitment against corruption goes beyond words: we demonstrate it with facts,” warned the leader, disqualified from teaching at the university since 2019. “They argued that I can spread my rebelliousness,” he explained.
Junqueras, however, also questioned the will of the judges investigating the Leire case. “It would also be corruption for justice to falsely accuse someone. We have many reasons to suspect that justice lacks a spirit of justice. We have seen how innocent people were condemned and people who had done no wrong were persecuted. It is logical that we are skeptical and we have no reason to believe that the accusations are true,” he stated before demanding “explanations” from the socialist leaders.
During the question and answer session, which lasted almost an hour and a half, the republican recalled that the “only party condemned for corruption” is the PP, and gave as an example his experience in prison, where he entered in 2017. “There were many [popular] leaders there: Bárcenas, a charming guy; Rodrigo Rato, someone fantastic… I am sure that those who were there were the most innocent of their party and that the real culprits have never entered prison.”
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Regarding Rufián’s future, Junqueras reiterated that he believes the current leader of the republicans in Congress will be ERC’s top candidate in the next general elections, despite the challenge the current deputy has posed to the leadership. “A long and intense friendship unites us; and we share concerns,” he simplified.
Teacher conflict
The meeting took place on another day of teacher protests, one day after the grassroots of the majority union in Catalonia, Ustec, rejected the pre-agreement reached by the organization with the Government for the improvement of their working conditions. “All the teachers I know voted no,” Junqueras shared.
The republican defended that the approval of the Budgets provides the Government with more resources to address the educational conflict, but admitted that the protests transcend the economic issue. “A good part of the teaching staff feels that their vocation has been betrayed and that they are not allowed to do what they would like: to teach.” Junqueras assumed ERC’s “responsibility” in the conflict due to its past in the previous Executive, and demanded to guarantee knowledge to develop critical thinking. “If you don’t know history, you can’t compare what is happening now with what has happened at other times, so it’s impossible to have a critical spirit,” he exemplified after comparing the current era with the “1970s” due to the stagflation [economic stagnation and inflation] of both periods.
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