Compromís is aware that reissuing the pact with Sumar – especially after the Galician fiasco – is risky. Although the Initiative militancy did approve – yes, with a low participation – to go with Yolanda Díaz and other progressive forces to the European ones, the truth is that in the coalition this option is not exciting. However, the majority opinion of the leaders – both of the Initiative and of Més Compromís – is the union with Sumar, which is the simplest way to obtain a MEP. That now seems to be the only objective of the Valencian coalition.
Again, as happened in the general elections where Compromís managed to double the number of deputies in Congress, the result has become the argument to justify an agreement in which not everyone trusts after Sumar’s latest movements in the Valencian Community.
For this reason, and to ensure that the pact is beneficial, Compromís requires Sumar to have a position among the top four positions in a hypothetical European candidacy. A place that they understand would ensure the presence of a Compromís representative in Brussels for the next five years.
It will not be a simple negotiation since both the Comuns and Más Madrid will want to ensure the same treatment and Sumar will have to place someone of their own beyond putting the logo on the ballot. However, the Valencians understand that not being in those privileged places could deprive them of obtaining a seat in the European Parliament. “Outside of that it would not be understood,” said yesterday the Ombudsman of Compromís, Joan Baldoví, who asked for a “prudent” and “discreet” negotiation with the platform of Yolanda Díaz.
In 2014, the now defunct UPyD achieved four MEPs with one million votes and 6.5%. In 2019, Vox was left with 3 minutes with 6.2%. That year, Podemos had to reach 10% to obtain 6 MEPs. In this last call for the European ones there was much more participation since they were called together with the municipal ones.
In the general elections last summer, Sumar reached 12.33% of the votes. It will be difficult for it to repeat that figure now, but it has the advantage that Spain now elects seven more deputies than in 2019 (61 compared to 54), which gives it room to have four records with a worse result in the elections scheduled for next June 9.
