The reconfiguration of the space occupied by the alternative left to the PSOE under the leadership of Yolanda Díaz has unleashed a battle between the different political actors because, after all, it means distributing the cards of power anew. Some see in the vice president’s project an opportunity to gain positions and others, instead, a threat of losing them. Hence the tensions have exploded and that Podemos, which feels like the only one harmed, has gone on the offensive to try to resist. Or, as Pablo Iglesias warned in the fall, to be “respected.”
In this struggle, and with the veiled threat of going to the elections on its own if there is no agreement, Podemos has argued that when there is a dispute to know what specific weight each organization has, the only way to resolve it is by calling “open primaries”. » to make the electoral lists. Because these lists not only mark the deputies in the future, but also who directs the governing body of the coalition, the distribution of subsidies or the number of advisers, among other things. In other words, there are many interests at stake.
Thus, Podemos has presented the primaries as its ordeal to subdue Díaz. It knows that it has the competitive advantage of having many more militants than the rest of the organizations and that, in addition, it has mechanisms to transmit guidelines that encourage certain people to the detriment of others. In short, it is winning in this way that is difficult to achieve in an agreement with several bands. Especially since Díaz aspires to involve independent profiles, beyond the parties.
We can press to resolve the conditions of those primaries now, but the rest of Díaz’s allies do not trust him at all and want any discussion in this regard to be addressed jointly at a table with everyone. In other words, after the elections, starting in June.
Although there could be acceptance of looking for mechanisms to choose or ratify the lists, as Díaz herself also shares, in the political space they are aware of the trap that Podemos poses for them. Hence the precautions to take any step forward. In addition, there are no precedents in Unidas Podemos in this sense, neither in 2016 nor in 2019. Podemos held its primaries and IU chose for its side as well, but the two had an agreement on the specific positions that each one had. Just as it happened in the Basque, Catalan, Galician, Madrid and Castilian and Leonese regional elections of these years ago or in the elections that will be addressed this month of May.
The sources consulted underline without a doubt that the great battle will be in the “census” of the people who will vote. First, it is necessary to establish who can participate – a list of militants cannot be shared between parties due to the data protection law and that forces a specific registration to be opened from scratch for this case. Then, and this is the key, it is necessary to determine the scope of the vote: national, regional or provincial. Knowing that the electoral lists are presented by constituencies.
Podemos is interested in a national or regional census -to assert its number of affiliates- and it would suffer in the province, since there are forces such as Más Madrid in the capital, Compromís in the Valencian Community, IU in Andalusia or common in Catalonia, which have a very noticeable influence. The same could happen in Aragón with La Chunta, in the Balearic Islands with Més or in the Canary Islands with Alberto Rodríguez.
IU has its proposal: proportional primaries by constituencies, Podemos is not talking about the census and Díaz has not yet clarified his plan.
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