“The idea was good, and it’s a good strategy, but it’s not working out the way we intended.” Leaders of Compromís comment on this when addressing the “invisibility” of the Valencians in Madrid after their pact with Sumar, and due to the strategy of Yolanda Díaz’s formation to test the possibility of proposing a political project in the Valencian Community for 2027. “I think that in Sumar they do not fully understand the Valencian reality,” they add. “What does Yolanda Díaz want to do in the Valencian Community?” they ask.
The consulted leaders of Més Compromís and PV Initiative, the two main forces of the coalition, agree that the electoral coalition of 23-J was a success. It made it possible to get two deputies in Congress, compared to only one in the previous legislature. They also emphasize that “a lot of progress” has been made in policies that Compromís wants. But the public and media projection of the political agreements with Sumar have hardly any impact. “We have a problem there,” they acknowledge.
On the contrary, what achieves notoriety is precisely what Compromís does not achieve, and the feeling grows that the responsibility lies, in large part, with Sumar. Issues such as the expansion of the Port of Valencia is a good example: it has been approved by the Council of Ministers of which Sumar is a part and against the opinion of Compromís. But there is more, such as the Government’s inability to propose a change in the financing model or to accept temporary palliative measures to correct this situation, or to address the demands of Valencians such as the management of Cercanías or accelerate certain investments, are playing in against Compromís before public opinion and even from its bases.
The Valencian force recognizes this situation, and even assesses that “we will surely have to rethink the relationship in some way.” They also add that the complex situation of the Government, and of Pedro Sánchez, “is causing a very difficult start to the legislature, which makes it even more difficult to visualize the Valencian agenda.” But despite everything, they reaffirm that at the national level “the pact with Sumar was a success, but its development raises doubts and is normal.”
Another question is knowing what Yolanda Díaz wants to do with Sumar in the Valencian Community. Sources from Sumar in Valencia point out that “there is a space outside the PSOE and Compromís”; a space, they add, “more social, which is the one that Mónica Oltra represented and that Podem also defended.” A left, they value, “more social, more feminist, more environmentalist and far from the positions of political Valencianism.” They believe, they add, that Compromís “is abandoning these positions.” The problem, they say, is that Yolanda Díaz has not yet verbalized what she wants to do in this autonomy.
Sumar held its territorial assemblies in the Valencian Community last weekend with very little participation. From Compromís it is valued that “the majority of the cadres who intend to carry out this project were part of this party.” And it is believed that “it is not going to work for them; it has not worked for them in Galicia, it is not going well for them in the Basque Country; Sumar must understand that if it does not share a project with Compromís it may have serious problems.” They remember that it was a mistake for Yolanda Díaz to present her Sumar project a few weeks before the regional elections of March 28. “That fractured the vote and demobilized many people.”
The unrest in Compromís is growing, and the absence of a clear speech from Yolanda Díaz about her objectives in the Valencian Community aggravates it. But there is an added problem, which the leaders of Compromís also comment on, and that is the risk that Sumar will continue to add failures in future electoral calls. The next ones are the Basque and European elections, to which Compromís could attend with the formation of Yolanda Díaz. If they fail, they doubt that the relationship between both formations can last long over time.
