Sumar is rushing to establish contacts in Galicia in order to prepare a candidacy that will give new impetus to his political space. The electoral push – the elections will finally take place on February 18 instead of July – was an open secret, but the parties that became the first opposition force in 2016 under the En Marea brand and Yolanda Díaz platform have not yet reached an agreement today. After Podemos's break with the second vice president's coalition, the options for a completely unified list appear to be virtually eliminated. The appointment at the polls is a risky test for the Labor leader, who is debuting her project in some regional elections, she is doing so in her birthplace and in an extremely complex context: with her possible allies in an extra-parliamentary situation and with hardly any organic one at any time Develop structure or find a recognizable candidate. Political forces have until January 5th – ten days after the official call scheduled for this Tuesday – To coalitions.
After Anova – the party of former Santiago mayor Martiño Noriega – closed the door on a candidacy with Sumar last Monday, the question now arises as to Esquerda Unida (EU), a group that has supported Díaz for more than a decade stated, will do. and that he has held meetings with both Podemos and the new movement coordinated by Paulo Carlos López, a former member of the nationalist BNG. In recent days there has been a reversal of roles with proposals and counter-proposals to clarify the weight that Eva Solla's formation would have in one candidacy or another, although some sources assume that she will ultimately choose Sumar. At the national level, the IU board on Thursday called for a unified list that included the three actors. “The US has to decide whether it wants to go with dad or mom,” summarizes a source involved in the negotiations.
Given the complex and very tense relationship between the national leadership of Podemos and Sumar, Díaz's harmony with the organization coordinated in Galicia by Borja San Ramón had been full until recently, but talks collapsed before the departure of Ione Belarra Podemos deputies in Congress to the mixed group. There was an initial offer from Podemos for a three-party coalition in which each force would represent 33%. “It is quite obvious that there are those who have decided to divide the space based on calculations that have more to do with Madrid than with Galicia,” say Podemos sources in the municipality, who assure that the new Movement made it “clear”. that it does not want to present itself with them, but rather wants to “measure” the strength of each individual. In Podemos they criticize that this attitude only increases the chances of an absolute majority for the president of the Xunta, Alfonso Rueda (PP), and believe that the aim should be to field as few candidates as possible in order to attract the votes of the left unite.
The speaker of the Sumar parliament, Marta Lois, reiterated in an interview with Europa Press in recent days that the “unilateral exit” of Podemos from Congress had “conditioned” the talks in Galicia. Party sources insist that it is “prepared for the elections” and Lois herself was convinced that Sumar will be “the key and the lever” for changes in the Xunta. They repeat in this formation that the PSOE and the BNG cannot displace Rueda without their project, because there is a part of the left electorate that will not support either of these two options. The deputy recalled that on June 23, the progressive bloc obtained 800,000 votes, while the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, achieved his last absolute majority with only 600,000 ballots, which is why they believe that mobilization is again crucial be.
Privately, other Sumar voices in Madrid are less optimistic. The leadership of the parties that are part of the space and have something at stake in Galicia are following these elections very closely and in recent days the demands have multiplied to reach an agreement as quickly as possible. A leader of the party believes that 18-F will end badly, but is confident that the electoral cycle, which begins with the elections in Galicia and includes the autonomous elections of Euskadi – which are not scheduled but will take place sometime in April – and Bei The European elections on June 9th are going from less to more, with a modest result in the Basque Country and a good one in the European Parliament. Plus, saving money on furniture is relatively easy. Although there is a double suffrage in Galicia (people who choose one ballot or another depending on the size of the elections), after the catastrophe of the Podemos candidacy and their coincidence in the 2020 elections, having representation with one would already be a step forward to reach the only MP.
The last unknown is that of the candidate. Sumar and Podemos are the only groups that have not yet defined their proposal. Díaz has been looking for options since the summer, but after Anova's no, some of the profiles that fit best have been ruled out. There are also alternatives among the 50 names of the organizer that were presented as part of the platform in A Coruña a little over a week ago. Marta Lois, spokesman Paulo Carlos López or the former secretary general of the CC OO Galicia, Ramón Sarmiento, are some of the people included in the pools.
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