A few weeks ago, the Sumar platform was presented, a combination of acronyms and illusion with which the already cataloged “left to the left of the PSOE†intends to go to the general elections that are expected to take place at the end of this year.
I cannot help but express my surprise when I see that the motto chosen for the presentation on April 2 in Magariños was “Empieza todo”. Does everything start? The crowded squares of 2011 pass through my mind, the transforming and exciting power of what we already call the first Podemos and its arrival in Parliament with 72 deputies. Without forgetting the entry into the Government that, although already with a Podemos on assisted breathing, catapulted the figure of Yolanda DÃaz as Minister of Labor and Social Economy and later as second vice president. The fact is powerful: DÃaz, a trade unionist and labor lawyer, manages the Ministry of Labor at the time of the ERTES and the labor reform that has improved the lives of many families and that are the result of good employment data. Who said that the flag of good management is from the right?
With these elements you could choose to embody the achievements. Value the path that, not without difficulty, has already been traveled with the effort and involvement of many movements, citizens and citizens. But, of course, the last thing is to think that on April 2 everything began.
In addition, Spain is not only Madrid and the regional experiences have years of advantage. Although there are several, the Valencian Community is for me the best example. Sumar has a great reference in our land. It all started here, but more than 8 years ago. As a good friend and journalist reminded me the other day, the Botà nic pact does add up. Add no more and no less than six parties: PSPV, CompromÃs, with three members and Unides Podem. And with six parties in government we have had eight years of progressive policies and social transformation that have brought dignity and stability to the Valencian people, governing from the agreement and with the commitment that good management is what really improves people’s lives. . Each one has done so from their perspective and political culture, but without fear of the contradictions that governing implies.
We assume that this political and institutional trajectory of the Pacte del Botà nic is what has led DÃaz to want to integrate several of his political forces into his project. In fact, several of his representatives were present on April 2 in Magariños. That’s why it’s hard for me to understand how it all started that day.
I believe that launching a viable progressive project with a view to the general elections, capable of generating illusion and hope, is completely necessary, but for this, several things must be taken into account: getting out of that “to the left of the PSOE” in which they install and Sumar settles, knowing how to read and understand the current social context and offering a progressive project that fearlessly looks at the contradictions of assuming a governing institutionality. So that? To consolidate itself as a transforming and integrating space and not subaltern or alternative.
Nobody said it was easy. The current social context is complicated and complex. The noise is increasingly deafening, because it has more channels and means through which to slip through and travel, causing confusion and fear. In addition, phenomena such as the pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine, which have taken place almost at the same time, have shaken the world political and economic terrain. Elements like these mean that the social situation is no longer that of 2015. 2015 was the year of illusion, of hope for the future. Now, in 2023, the same recipe is not worth it, because otherwise we run the risk of frustrating, discouraging and not appearing credible to a social majority that no longer fills seats and does not fill rallies, but is at home worried because they cannot pay the rent, they do not give you an appointment at your health center or you cannot fill the shopping cart. A social majority that needs action and institutions that make life easier. It is to this citizenship that we must add in 2023 and to which we must say without fear, with determination and without frills: we have achieved a lot, but we have to do more. That is why we want to continue governing.
This undoubtedly does transform, but it implies courage and assuming a commitment to the citizenry to offer a political option that, as a dear friend would say from his parliamentary experience, works for an institutional one from democratic radicalism.
This project should go beyond any acronym and person. It should reinforce a culture and way of doing politics from the community and with the community, with new ideas and perspectives and that transcends short-sightedness. Let him speak and appeal to the missing citizenship.
For this, it is vital to learn from the collective experience of recent years and add more and better knowledge that allows progressive recipes to be updated to current needs.
