Yolanda Díaz is embarking on her own path for now without Podemos towards the general elections, but today’s act is not the end of that journey, but the beginning. For this reason, and because there is concern on the part of both parties to seek an agreement, even if it is only for their own interest, the negotiations will resume vigorously after the electoral date in May. It will be then when Sumar and Podemos put back on the table the points that separate them and that, for the moment, are delaying the terms of a peaceful coexistence. Otherwise, the threat of a Podemos candidacy with Irene Montero flies over.
THE ROLE OF WE CAN. The root of the conflict and from what everything else derives has to do with the quotas of power and with the role that Podemos should have in the reconfiguration of the alternative space to the PSOE. Since 2014, with Pablo Iglesias, the purple party has been the hegemonic force and has always imposed its conditions and interests. But the leadership of the space has changed hands and, with it, a door is opened to a new correlation of forces. Especially when there are parties on the rise and when Podemos, in addition, is at its lowest hours despite being in the Government. Iglesias himself recognized that these were actually the terms of the “internal struggle” that is being maintained, since there were “sister forces” that “have seen the moment for that hegemony to change”, alluding to IU or Colau’s commons. He warned the former secretary general that there are “those who intend to humiliate” his party, but he sent a resounding warning: Podemos “has never allowed itself to be humiliated and it is not going to do so now.”
Why is this so important? Because power is embodied in positions on the electoral lists, in control of the coalition, in general, and of the parliamentary group in Congress, in particular. Because it means distributing economic resources and also in assigning attendees.
PRIMARY. The way to challenge this scenario has been to challenge Díaz to hold an “open primary” to settle with votes what weight each party should have. Podemos wants to assert its greater number of militants compared to the rest of the forces and Díaz herself -who does not have a party structure-, also aware of his ability to direct his supporters to promote and reject candidates.
Podemos and Sumar have been negotiating about all this but the talks have run aground when it has had to be put in writing. The last time last Monday, when the last real attempt was made. Díaz’s team even offered a political statement committing to make “primaries” to choose the lists, but for the purple ones it was not enough because they demand that they should be “open”, and they are suspicious that Sumar does not want to assume something that they consider minima. And it is that, by primaries it could be understood from a ratification of lists agreed in offices to processes with delegated vote. We can ask for an open census in which any citizen can register to participate.
With the primaries open, Podemos would have more capacity to maintain positions on the lists. It would avoid entering into a distribution of places in negotiations with other forces. Not surprisingly, among the fifteen parties behind Díaz there are a large number that are regional. That is, forces that would ask to have a leading role in their communities. Among them are Madrid, Catalonia, the Valencian Community, Andalusia (with IU and the PCE), Aragon or Navarra. Which greatly reduces the space of Podemos to place their own.
RELATIONSHIP WITH ‘THE OTHERS’. This leads us to how coexistence is guaranteed between very different parties and with cases of turbulent relations between them. Adding will need rules and distribute responsibilities. Nobody questions, not even Podemos, Díaz’s role as leader, but it does, and this is linked to power, there are different visions of how they are managed. Ione Belarra’s party wants “a coalition with Sumar”, and dismisses the rest of the forces as parties that are integrated within the platform created by the vice president. However, many of these organizations deny the “bilateral” pacts between Podemos and Sumar and demand shared decision-making tables. For example, to debate in them how these primaries should be. Well, not everyone thinks the same way. Hence, Díaz does not want to set any conditions that could later cause him problems.
THE CAMPAIGN OF MAY. The unity of the left has been working for months but all except Podemos are betting that the pacts be closed in June, when the elections are over. This favors that in May there will be forces called to enter Sumar competing with each other. What is Diaz going to do? Podemos, and yesterday Belarra asked him again, demands that he get involved and tour Spain campaigning for the United Podemos candidates. However, she refuses to participate in those places where there is competition between potential allies. This rules out Madrid, the Valencian Community or the Canary Islands, where Podemos is in a state of nerves about its results. She has only said that she will surely campaign for Colau.
SPEECH. Podemos and Díaz are separated by their styles and also the way of negotiating with the PSOE. It was seen with the gag law, that Podemos was very acid with Díaz’s negotiators, with the shipment of arms to Ukraine or with the Budget pacts. Pragmatism against the “all or nothing”.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
