We can tighten the rope, but it won’t break it. And Sumar avoids the collision and the flap doesn’t penetrate. The attitude of the five Podemos deputies once their party is expelled from government will be one of the many headaches that await Pedro Sánchez’s leadership this legislative period. The party’s general secretary, Ione Belarra, insisted this Thursday that from now on it will act in Congress with “full political and parliamentary autonomy”, which does not mean that its immediate plans include a move to the Mixed Group. The Sumar leadership assures that it will not take any action that would force Belarra residents to break with the coalition in which they participated in the last elections.
After the outcome of the government formation, the differences between the party founded by Pablo Iglesias and the platform of Yolanda Díaz already seem to be irreconcilable. Sumar has also created certainty that Podemos will stand alone in next spring’s European elections. Nobody thinks reconciliation is possible, but at the same time nobody wants to be blamed for the final break. And neither party is willing to take steps to break the faction in Congress, at least in the short term.
Podemos not only denies that he is thinking about joining the mixed group, but also floats the idea that it is Sumar’s address that could show him the door. Belarra had dropped it on Wednesday in an interview on TVE and returned with it this Thursday during an appearance before the press in Congress: “Just as Sánchez threw us out of government, I don’t rule out that they throw us out of government throw.” Sumar faction.” . The group’s spokeswoman, Marta Lois, publicly denied this and sources in the group confirmed it privately: “It seems that they are looking for it, but they won’t see it.”
Belarra insisted on her thesis that with the departure of Podemos the government no longer has a “transformative left”. And its purpose from now on is to “use political autonomy” to “promote” these transformative measures and “restore the political strength that Podemos had in the past.”
How far can this exercise of autonomy go? Party officials assure that their five votes must be negotiated separately from Sumar’s and that their support for the government’s measures, including the next budget, cannot be taken for granted without prior dialogue. In any case, party sources emphasize that they will differentiate themselves primarily through public criticism of the executive’s actions, with which they are dissatisfied. Belarra had demonstrated this with actions in recent days and reiterated it this Thursday, claiming that Pedro Sánchez’s trip to Israel as President-in-Office of the European Council only served to “whitewash” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. .
Podemos’ claim to autonomy faces several obstacles. Sumar’s management excluded them from the position of deputy speakers of the group, which deprived them of an accredited signature with which they could present initiatives themselves or support the initiatives of the left-wing nationalist groups ERC, EH Bildu and BNG with which they agree . often in their positions. Sumar sources also assure that the Belarra party has committed to remaining in the common group in the Podemos accession agreements. In return, he will receive a grant of almost two million euros, according to the same sources. If he joined the Mixed Group, he would have a freer political hand, although he would have to share time and resources with the BNG, the Canary Coalition and the Navarro People’s Union (UPN).
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Sumar’s internal regulations are still being negotiated between all groups. The sources interviewed assume that it will include measures to ensure internal discipline with a sanctions regime. But enforcing strict electoral discipline like in the major parties is practically impossible in a conglomerate of so many different formations. Compromís, for example, has already guaranteed freedom of action in the previous agreements in matters that fully concern the Valencian Community. In the previous legislative period, there were occasional voting differences between the Catalans En Comú and Izquierda Unida within the Unidas Podemos group.
In the same congressional press room where Belarra had left her statements an hour earlier, Sumar’s parliamentary spokesman made some accusations to Podemos without engaging in the direct conflict. Marta Lois called on her deputies to respect internal “cohesion” and asked “what they mean by being part of the group” when they suggest that they can vote freely on certain issues. Lois pointed out that Podemos must present its positions within the group because that is where “negotiation, discussion and agreement” takes place.
The only thing Sumar and Podemos seem to agree on is their willingness not to force a separation. The rest is unknown: how far those from Belarra are willing to go and how far those from Díaz are willing to tolerate dissent. And also whether the PSOE accepts Podemos as a separate interlocutor. The question was put to the socialist spokesman this Thursday. Patxi López almost ran away.
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