25.06.2014 - 10:46
ERC will widen its lead over CiU in the Catalan Parliament, according to a new poll by GESOP, published Sunday night by El Periódico newspaper. The study indicates that Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) would get 39 seats and the ruling CiU coalition (Convergència i Unió) would fall to 29 or 30. Ciutadans, with 16 or 17, would be the largest pro-unionist party. Next would be the PP, with 13 seats, followed by PSC with 11 or 12. ICV-EUiA would get 10 or 11. The big news would be the emergence of Madrid-based Podem, with 9 or 10 seats, which would be more than the CUP with six.
This is the largest lead that ERC has ever had over CiU in any poll of Catalan elections to date. 29 or 30 seats for CiU means a loss of 20 over its current number. On the other hand, ERC would once again win the elections, after the last polls taken in March, which gave the first position to CiU.
Cituadans would be the third largest group with 16-17 seats. But the biggest change is the emergence of Podem, the party led by Pablo Iglesias, after its important showing in the European elections, where it ran for the first time. According to the poll, it would win 9 or 10 seats, more than the CUP, which would still get twice as many as it has now. It’s important to point out, of course, that Podem has not announced that it has any intention of running in the Catalan Parliamentary elections, or who would be the head of the list, if it chose to do so.
The poll also says that PP would lose 6 seats, going from 19 to 13, the PSC would go from 20 to 11 or 12. ICV would also lose representation, although not as drastically, going from 13 seats to 10 or 11. The Parliament would be populated by eight political forces, one more than presently.
