Frente Amplio faces the deadline for the lists for the general elections on November 29 this Monday with several constituencies still without designated candidates for Congress and after some episodes of internal tension such as the resignation in the province of Teruel, which represented the clash between Chunta Aragonesista (CHA) and Izquierda Unida (IU).
In turn, the defined starting positions and heads of lists leave a deep renewal compared to the Sumar candidacy in 2023, from which the new coalition is an heir. For the moment, Tesh Sidi (Más Madrid), Toni Valero (IU), Verónica Barbero (Movimiento Sumar), Esther Gil de Reboleño (Movimiento Sumar), Júlia Boada, and Viviane Ogou (both linked to the Comuns) repeat.
Frente Amplio closed the first milestone of the electoral race with negotiations to the limit to finalize the electoral coalitions last Friday, October 23, which consummated the fracture with Podemos but reaffirmed alliances with territorial allies such as Chunta or Compromís, which integrated both IU and Podemos and ERC into a unity candidacy in the Community of Valencia.
The new formation also joined with the Balearic party Ara Més, under the acronym Ara Més-Front Ampli. This Sunday, Podemos reached an agreement with the coalition similar to that achieved with ERC in Catalonia, whereby those of Irene Montero will not run in the islands but will include representatives of Podemos as independents in the Ara Més candidacy. Thus, the 'purple' coordinator in the Balearic Islands, Lucía Muñoz, will be 'number three' on the island list.
The agreement, announced on Sunday afternoon by Muñoz herself on her social networks, comes a week after negotiations between both parties bore no fruit and left the purples out of the coalition.
Notwithstanding this last union, the coalition promoted by the minority parties of the Executive reaches the last day of the deadline to register the candidacies with heads of lists still to be proclaimed, as is the case in Seville, one of the most relevant places.
Constituencies yet to be defined
In the case of the Andalusian community, they still have to specify other enclaves where Sumar obtained a seat in 2023, such as Granada, while in Málaga they already have a head of the list with the lawyer and activist of the Gaza support flotilla Rafael Borrego. Meanwhile, everything points to Esther Gil de Reboleño repeating as head of the list in Cádiz and the provincial coordinator of IU, Sebastián Pérez Gallardo, is running in Córdoba.
The candidacies in Galicia have not yet been officially announced, where in 2023 Sumar achieved seats in Pontevedra and Coruña, or in the constituencies of Euskadi, Extremadura, Castilla y León, and several provinces of Castilla-La Mancha.
The registration of the electoral lists has been marked by the resignation of the Chunta Aragonesista to run for Congress for Teruel with the aim of taking seats away from the right and leaving the PSOE as a progressive reference.
This withdrawal prompted strong opposition from IU, which initially even pointed to the option of presenting lists on their own; however, they have already accepted that the regionalist party is the one that has the decision-making power over the constituencies in which Frente Amplio runs, although they insist to the CHA that they correct their refusal.
During these days, it has also been debated whether this resignation should extend to more provinces, although the main leaders of Frente Amplio have assured that they will present in most of the country and that cases like that of Teruel are exceptions due to the specific circumstances of the territory.
Regarding negotiations between Frente Amplio and the PSOE to run together, the formations have denied that there are negotiations for joint lists for Congress and have indicated that their alliance is limited only to the Senate.
In the Upper House, they share candidacy in more than 40 constituencies and the new space of the left is obtaining the second positions on the lists. For example, one of the unknowns to be resolved is the candidate of Frente Amplio for Madrid to the Senate.
Departures of Aina Vidal and other prominent leaders
Meanwhile, the preparation of the list for Congress has left out the co-spokesperson of the Comuns, Aina Vidal, a decision that led 30% to vote against the preparation of the candidacies for Catalonia in the national council of the Catalan party. The other co-spokesperson, Gerardo Pisarello, and the already former deputies Candela López, coordinator of the party, and Eloi Badia, also do not repeat on the list.
In Barcelona, the number two is for the head of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, while the second vice president, Yolanda Díaz, who has already resigned from being a candidate in the elections, will not be on the lists. The Minister of Health and leader of Más Madrid, Mónica García, who was strongly rumored to be a candidate for the Moncloa from this new political project, has also refused to be on the candidacy for Congress.
Another who will not repeat will be the deputy of Més per Mallorca Vicençs Vidal, since the head of the list of the Ara Més and Frente Amplio coalition for Congress for the archipelago will be Carme Gomila. In the province of Zaragoza, there will also be news regarding 2023 since Chunta has chosen the LGTBI activist Marina Rodríguez.
On the other hand, Rafael Cofiño will also not continue as a deputy, and the new head of the list for Asturias, a position that IU will lead this time, will be Juan Ponte.
It is also unlikely that Txema Guijarro, Alda Recas, Carlos Martín, or Agustín Santos, who was the 'number two' of Díaz on the Madrid lists in the 23J elections, will repeat in leading positions.
In Navarra, the number one will be councilor Javier Ibáñez; in Cantabria, Carmen Martín is proposed, and in Murcia, the bet is the regional coordinator of IU, Penélope Luna. In the Region, Sumar obtained a seat in 2023 that went to the Podemos leader Javier Sánchez Serna. In Ciudad Real, IU has proposed the former councilor Juana Caro.
Emilio Delgado and Tesh Sidi, one and two for Madrid
The list for Madrid is defined with Emilio Delgado in the number one position, followed by his colleague in Más Madrid Tesh Sidi in second place. The main electoral reference of IU in these elections, Toni Valero, holds the third position; the co-coordinator of Movimiento Sumar, Verónica Barbero, has the fourth position, and the councilor of Más Madrid, Eduardo Fernández Rubiño, is in the fifth place.
In the case of Compromís, Àgueda Micó, who ended up leaving the plurinational group Sumar to go to the Mixto, and Alberto Ibáñez will repeat on the lists.
Podemos also renews candidates
In the case of the Valencian Community, the head of the list for Alicante of the Compromís-Frente Valenciano candidacy will fall to Podemos, in the figure of its regional coordinator María Teresa Pérez.
Within the purple formation, which only runs with Frente Amplio in the Canary Islands and the Valencian Community, there will also be a strong renewal of candidates.
Thus, the purple party candidate, Irene Montero, will have 'Tito Morano' as number two, followed by former advisor Dina Bousselham and former deputy in the Assembly of Madrid Serigne Mbayé.
The historic trans activist and member of the purple Executive, Mar Cambrollé, will lead the list for Seville. Meanwhile, Manuel Pravia, spokesperson and delegate of the Stevedores Union in Avilés, will be number one for Asturias.
The general secretary of Podemos, Ione Belarra, does not repeat on the lists because she will run as a candidate for the elections in the Community of Madrid, and neither do former deputies Javier Sánchez Serna and Martina Velarde.