Compromís is not digesting his return to the opposition very well after eight years of government. The internal life in the two main parties that make up this coalition (Més Compromís and Initiative) is somewhat altered at a key moment for a space that must clearly mark its roadmap for the future if it wants to once again be a mid-government alternative. term.
Although the party has managed to ensure that the Valencian agenda is present in the government agreement between PSOE and Sumar (there were many doubts regarding the coalition’s ability to influence), these days internal issues have watered down the celebration. Initiative is suffering a trickle of casualties while the most nationalist current of Més Compromís will be this Sunday at a sovereignty event with Esquerra Republicana on the occasion of the Day of October.
In Initiative – the party that Mónica Oltra catapulted – up to six relevant positions have already been removed, such as the former vice mayor of Valencia, Sergi Campillo, the former councilor Luisa Notario and four senior officials from the Department of Equality and Inclusive Policies that she directed. Oltra for seven years and whose replacement Aitana Mas took over. In that same department was the now deputy in Congress, Alberto Ibáñez, who together with Mas has commanded the Initiative since February 2022.
The six have left their party “disappointed” by the leadership’s management, which is undermined by its alleged delay in moving towards the consolidation of Compromís. A criticism that the current leadership refutes by understanding that, after years of debate, they have been the first executive to put on the table a calendar to, after the internal discussion, convene an assembly and approve the creation of a federation of parties. that consolidates Compromís as a more agile and stronger instrument when it comes to experiencing this journey in the desert that the opposition represents.
Sources from the ecosocilist formation point out that these resignations do not occur “by chance” and believe that the first announcement, made one day before Yolanda Díaz’s visit to Valencia, had the firm intention of ruining the act of the leader of Sumar. Furthermore, they add that those who resigned seek to position themselves personally in the face of the scenario that opens up when they see that in Initiative “they had no support.” Other sources add that with their departure they are trying to weaken the Initiative project at a crucial moment to find a fit with Més that will satisfy everyone.
In this context, the deputy spokesperson for Compromís in Les Corts and prominent leader of the Initiative, Isaura Navarro, yesterday questioned the continuity of Sergi Campillo as councilor of the Valencia City Council. Without wanting to directly ask him to leave the record, she did emphasize that Campillo is occupying “a quota” of a party from which he has separated himself. Navarro reminded him that he is a councilor after running in the municipal elections in a position that was given to him for being part of the Initiative. The councilor has now asked to join Compromís directly in a move that his people do not quite understand.
The waters are calmer in Més Compromís, the majority party of Compromís, although critics always seem willing to fight. This Sunday, the Bloc i País current will participate in a sovereigntist event on the occasion of the Darrer Diumenge d’Octubre (an important date of Valencian nationalism) together with other entities and parties such as Esquerra Republicana del País Valencià (the Valencian subsidiary of ERC).
In fact, it was this party that organized this independence aplec in El Puig during recent years. Now, the new organizers explain, it has been decided to organize it through a plural commission that represents Valencianism “with many different accents” among which is this critical current of the old Bloc. On the other hand, Més Compromís will maintain its traditional protest day a few meters away on the esplanade of the El Puig Monastery.
Sources from Bloc i País explained to La Vanguardia that the two acts “can be combined” and that the sovereigntist aplec is not a party act but a joint act with platforms and entities with which a lot is shared, such as Escola Valenciana or the student union. BEA, so they have no doubt that “they should be present.”
