The preparation of joint lists for the regional elections in Galicia and Euskadi scheduled for the first half of 2024 anticipates a major train crash between Podemos and Sumar who, today, seem far from repeating their July confluence.
In an already tense environment after the conflictive process for the general elections, both parties aim to solidify their respective positions for the next electoral cycle. And the number of registered people, which aims to be the measuring stick to define the starting positions of the candidates, is taking the form of a throwing weapon.
Sumar’s spokesman, Ernest Urtasun, avoided expressly mentioning the primary mechanism and limited himself to guaranteeing that the election of candidates for future Galician and Basque elections will be done “in a democratic manner.” Although, he immediately added that he hopes to emulate the model undertaken for the general elections after which Podemos complained of “unequal” treatment in addition to denouncing vetoes of Irene Montero and Pablo Echenique, among others.
At a press conference at the party headquarters, the Minister of Culture also explained that they are not yet in a position to “announce heads of the list in these two regions”, given that they are now in the organic deployment of Sumar after formally establishing themselves in both Galicia as Basque Country. Although he has opted to work on the same “logic” that he prevailed on 27-J, admitting, of course, that the inclusion of Podemos in the confluence was “essential” to retain the progressive Government.
“I believe that the progressives of this country, in a context of the advance of the right throughout Europe, want us to work side by side,” Urtasun explained.
From Podemos, for its part, the postulates point in another direction. The purple formation considers that its autonomy outside of Sumar is “an inalienable red line.” And it conditions the achievement of electoral alliances to the “celebration of open primaries” and to the fact that “there are no vetoes.”
This has been highlighted by the spokesperson for the purple formation, Pablo Fernández, limiting the competence of the appointments “to the respective autonomous directorates.”
In this atmosphere of tension, Sumar defends having around 70,000 faithful while Podemos claims to have around 55,000.
The simplistic analysis suggests that, if the figures are true, those of Yolanda Díaz – leader of Sumar – would have within their reach the election of the heads of the list if a vote were held open to both militancy.
But those of Ione Belarra -general secretary of Podemos- understand that Sumar is counting as its own many of those registered in the purple formation, so they see themselves qualified to win the votes. “If we were wrong, Sumar would not take a minute to ask for open primaries. The fact that they are avoiding calling them shows that their registration number is inflated. They are Podemos militants who simply registered in Sumar for the general elections,” sources from the purple formation point out.
Neither party has wanted to comment on what the exact methodology to follow should be. But in both headquarters they assume that the detailed account of the paternity of each of those registered is going to further strain, if possible, the relationship between both formations without even having closed the wounds opened after 23-J. Disputes that have left Sumar as the great winner against a Podemos that does not have ministers or spokespersons within the confluence.
