For a couple of weeks, the negotiations between Podemos and Sumar to close an agreement before the launch of Yolanda Díaz as a candidate (a condition that the purple formation has put on the table so that its main leaders can attend the event) focus all attention on the space on the left. However, there is life, and a lot of it, beyond the open primaries, the candidacy for the general elections and the tensions that this generates.
In the territories, the coalitions agreed upon by Podemos and Izquierda Unida are advancing steadily towards the municipal and regional elections that will be held in less than two months, on May 28. Both formations have achieved joint candidacies in more autonomous communities than ever and, although there are still open negotiations in some places (such as the Valencian Country), in most places the confluence is more than established.
The discrepancies and clashes between the different actors of the left at the state level is not something alien to the territories (which have their own divergences, beyond the historical number of joint candidacies that have been closed). The clash that took place in the preparation of the candidacy of Por Andalucía in the regional elections held last year began a period of tension between Podemos and IU that dragged on for practically all of 2022, and which remained in the background during the negotiations that the two parties started in the different territories.
Some of the coalitions were quite early and easy to close, like With you Navarre (composed of Podemos, IU and Batzarre), which began the path of unity in the foral territory long before the rest of the autonomies. Others, such as those of Castilla-La Mancha or the Canary Islands, were later and more complex, but finally the agreement also made its way.
Now, the focus of the left has centered on the negotiations that Podemos and Sumar are holding to articulate a unity candidacy with other forces (among which is the United Left itself) and that have been enshrined in the last week in the petition of those of Ione Belarra to hold open primaries to define the electoral lists.
Garzón asks “not to make noise”
IU also has a prominent place in this dispute. Its general coordinator, Alberto Garzón, was the first leader to formally propose holding primaries to design the candidacies and a party table to discuss the construction of Sumar, a movement that for Yolanda Díaz and for Garzón himself goes further. beyond political organizations and is revealed as a citizen tool.
He did it after Podemos decided to vary its political relationship with the second vice president when relations between the two actors had cooled down a lot; In this way, they kept their bet because Díaz was her candidate, but refused to be part of the construction of Sumar and they opted to negotiate as equals with the final product of this space when it was established.
A few days ago, when those of Belarra and those of Díaz were negotiating to guarantee the presence of the purple formation in the launch of the candidacy of the vice president, Garzón defended that he would attend the act without any condition and warned that “everything that makes noise and wears down is against the agreement”.
The IU leader was referring to a leak from Podemos in which it was revealed that the Minister of Labor rejected his proposal for open primaries: “Yesterday, when someone, probably from Podemos, leaked that there was a disagreement and Sumar did not accept his conditions, That person is working against the agreement, because all that at this moment is making noise and wearing down Yolanda Díaz is working against the agreement,” he criticized.
His words were answered by the former Vice President of the Government and former Secretary General of the purple formation, Pablo Iglesias: “Garzón is not responsible for attacking colleagues. I think that in a context like this we have to be serious and not say that you don’t care about the lists when you have been in public office for more than 10 years. I suppose he will want to continue to be so”, he said on Cadena Ser.
Work “side by side” in the unit candidacies
Beyond the tensions in the days prior to the takeoff of Sumar as an eventual electoral option in the general elections, the joint candidacies of Podemos and Izquierda Unida in the territories are immersed in the final preparations for the electoral journey that will start until reaching 28M and that happens, first of all, through its registration.
From Podemos they explain that “we have worked for many months to get ready for the electoral appointment in May and that has gone through bet from the first moment for unity. Proof of this is that we have reached more agreements than ever.”
Those of Garzón also remember that IU “has bet from the beginning and has managed in most territories to join efforts with other political organizations and with the citizenry to get the best candidacies for the 28M”. In addition, they explain that the unit goes beyond the agreements and continues in subsequent joint work that is taking place today: “The IU federations at the regional level and their local assemblies at the municipal level have been working for weeks shoulder to shoulder with the rest of the political forces with which agreements have been reached. Proof of this is that more electoral agreements have been reached than in previous elections, which is especially exciting.”
All eyes are on the act that Yolanda Díaz will star in next Sunday in Madrid, where she will bring together a good number of parties, as well as the main unions, collectives, and even two of the great European families of the left (the Greens and the European Left Party), with the question of whether the main leaders of Podemos will also attend. However, in the territories the gaze is longer and between eyebrows the most important date is on May 28.
