The general secretary of Més Compromís and Compromís Sumar candidate for the general elections on 23-J, receives La Vanguardia at the headquarters of her party. She comments on the results of the regional elections that have ended up causing a change of cycle in the Valencian Community and is already looking towards the next electoral call where she aspires to take over from Joan Baldoví in Congress. A few hours after doing the interview, the primaries (she had no rival for her) confirm her as the headliner for the July legislatures.
What self-criticism does Compromís make after the results of 28-M?
We have not had the capacity to mark the political and media agenda of these elections. The question that people have asked when going to vote has not been related to the management of the Botànic and the Town Halls. I think the mobilization is a key factor in the vote and in the PP and the reactionary right it has worked better; their electorate has mobilized more than ours. The PP has said at all times that this was a first round to throw out Pedro Sánchez and what happened the day after the elections? That Pedro Sánchez has called a general election. The winning framework of the elections has been the state debate. That has meant that management has not been taken into account and there I make self-criticism; We have not had the capacity to reach the people with our message.
In any case, these eight years of management have taken their toll on Compromís, which has lost 100,000 votes compared to 2015, while the PSPV has grown in votes and seats.
Yes, the PSPV has had 50,000 more votes. I think there is another key factor that is repeated throughout history. The ‘mayor factor’ and the ‘president factor’. When you make a coalition government, that personification in the person who leads the project causes whoever holds the highest position to have more votes. In these years, what Compromís has achieved is that the fact of not having the Presidency has not taken as much toll on it as other political parties in the rest of the State. I think we have held up very well. In Valencia, the ‘mayor factor’ has allowed Compromís to consolidate itself as the leading political force on the left and the PSPV has not had the capacity to be the force with the most votes on the left.
But in the Valencia City Council, Compromís has lost a councilor, the PSPV has remained and that makes the PP govern.
Yes, but there are multiple factors such as the nationalization of politics. The truth is that the social and economic indicators in the Valencian Country have improved and that the Departments that we have headed from Compromís have contributed what our electorate demands: a social shield and a guarantee that anyone can have the same opportunities. Our electorate is happy with our management.
Has the nationalization of the campaign benefited the PSPV?
Obviously. That and the return to bipartisanship. The Spanish electoral system is bipartisan. It broke in 2015 and the PP and PSOE have been trying to close this multi-party cycle quickly. The disappearance of forces such as Ciudadanos and Unides Podem from the Valencian political scene mean that the two parties with the most votes once again have that electoral bonus that makes them have more representation than the rest.
You talk about the disappearance of Unides Podem, what future do you see for it in the Valencian Community?
The survival of a political project depends on its militancy, its territorial structure and the cohesion of its bases. Compromís is a consolidated political project that has withstood the conservative tsunami because we have a solid structure; that Ciudadanos and Podemos have not achieved in these years. This has meant that, at a time when bipartisanship is back with force, they have not been able to withstand the onslaught. I think they have it complicated.
Have you missed the figure of Mónica Oltra?
It is that he has been a key person in our political project. The paradigm shift that occurred in 2015 was, to a large extent, due to the impulse that the political figure made of him. She has been one of the key people in these eight years of government with the transformation in inclusive policies and equality and with laws as important as the trans law or the implementation of the dependency. Obviously, everything that has happened and the crisis that we have suffered in Compromís due to the harassment and lawfare of the right and the extreme right has affected our project.
At some point have you considered recovering your figure in the face of the generals?
Mónica is immersed in a judicial process and it is she who has to decide how, when and in what way she returns to the front line, if she wants to do so. She has the open arms of Compromís, Mónica will be in Compromís what she wants to be. She has never left, she has stepped aside so that the Botànic’s policies could continue.
How do you assess the agreement with Sumar?
Very positively. Compromís we are the Valencian voice in Madrid. For us it is important to collaborate with other political forces, but the most important thing is to bring the demands and the Valencian agenda to the institutions of the State. We are the only ones that do it.
Will the creation of a Valencian group be feasible?
Forming a parliamentary group is the first option established in the signed protocol. If that is not possible, we have agreed that there will be autonomy and its own voice in Congress. If there is no group, we want to get a Valencian subgroup and even have a spokesperson attached to be able to express our voice.
Has the deputy spokesperson been discussed?
Not officially, but it is something that is on the table. If there is no parliamentary group, it makes sense that a project like Compromís could agree to have a deputy spokesperson for that future parliamentary group.
How do you assess all the noise that has been around the pact due to the complicated negotiations between Sumar and Podemos?
We are out of those negotiations, but it is true that it affects us. We already said it in the electoral campaign: our political adversary is the PP and Vox, the rest are fellow travelers with whom we have shared governments and agreements so that the reactionary right does not govern in the State. We think that disagreements have to be resolved at home and that, when they are reached, positive work must be done to mobilize the electorate, which, as I said at the beginning, is key. Noise does not help the electorate feel comfortable.
What would be a good result good for you?
Being able to have 5 deputies and a parliamentary group of its own. The formation of a Valencian group or the attempt to do so with 5 deputies would be a success for these elections.
You are already an official candidate to lead the list for Valencia, what profile will you have in Madrid?
I am a person who has been militant in political Valencianism for a long time, who has played an important role from an organic point of view for the conformation of the Botànic governments and, now, my role must be one of proximity and utility to Valencian interests.
Would you feel comfortable with a role like the one played by Joan Baldoví with a lot of media exposure?
I have no problem. I think that political Valencianism should be noted in Madrid and if that means having a public exhibition, we will have it. And we will confront the rest of the parties that do not work to improve financing, have the deserved investments, competition from nearby, to fight against the solar macro-plants or for Valencian civil law…
In a hypothetical investiture, would Compromís have the autonomy to vote differently from what Yolanda Díaz does?
Compromís will have the autonomy to always vote what the Valencians want regardless of what Sumar’s parliamentary group votes for.
Will they be more demanding with the central government?
We will be just as demanding of what Joan Baldoví has ??been.
But, beyond the statements, in the end they have ended up voting many times in favor of the Government.
Why has there been an agreement that has led to those votes in favour?
He has announced that he will leave the general secretary of Més Compromís. Who should be his replacement at the head of the formation?
Temporarily, Amparo Piquer. Then I hope there will be a congress of all Compromís. I think we are at a point where we have to go one step further. We have been working together for a long time and the public does not see us as a coalition of three parties, but as a united political project. The next congress would have to be shared with the rest of the comrades and be a constituent congress of Compromís.
In that future that you are beginning to draw, how does this agreement with Sumar translate at the regional level?
This is a specific agreement for the generals. Compromís is not going to be diluted in any state political project. There is a question that the protocol includes and that is that there will be no electoral competition between Sumar and Compromís. Sumar understands that the political project that the Valencian and environmentalist left represents in the Valencian Country is Compromís. Thus, in the regional elections of 2027, Sumar, which has no territorial implantation, would have to recognize Compromís as its political project.
And what about Podem and Esquerra Unida that do have that territorial implantation?
It will have to be seen. It has been seen that the consolidated project that has citizen support and the capacity to make firm opposition to the PP is Compromís. I understand that, if they are clear about it, they will support our project, which is open to all who want to participate.
Could they end up integrating into Compromís?
If they wanted to, Podemos and Esquerra Unida have their doors open. We have already carried out an opening process and what is clear is that, in the Valencian Country, the alternative to bipartisanship and the reactionary right is Compromís.
