The political secretary of Podemos and former Minister of Equality, Irene Montero, maintains her demand to hold open primaries for the entire left to choose the candidate for the general elections on November 29, a condition she considers essential to reach a unity agreement with the forces integrated into the Frente Amplio.
In statements to "TVE," reported by Europa Press, the leader of Podemos emphasized that her party's position has not changed, even after the former mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, has emerged as a possible candidate for the Presidency of Frente Amplio, proposed by Más Madrid.
Colau has expressed that she would be willing to head the list in the general elections as long as the Frente Amplio candidacy includes the entire left, which includes Podemos. Along the same lines, the federal coordinator of IU, Antonio Maíllo, has reiterated his offer of collaboration to the purple party, emphasizing that all organizations of the alternative left must be present in this project.
Despite this, Montero has reiterated that Podemos's line is to activate a mechanism for the participation of progressive bases. "The only way to reach agreements is through primaries, and that is why we have called them, and on the 14th and 15th of October there will be primaries. We already have everything ready (...) so that everyone who wants to can participate and can present themselves," she emphasized.
Montero demands that citizens order the left
When asked about the option of integrating into the new space promoted by the parties that are part of the minority partner of the Government, Montero replied that "she does not feel comfortable talking about the things of Sumar" and defended that the best way out of the "infinite loop" in which, in her opinion, the left finds itself is for citizens to "place each one in their place" through voting.
In this context, she assured that Podemos "will be on the list that comes out of those open primaries" and questioned at what point the left stopped advocating for the political culture that emerged after the 15M, focused on the direct involvement of the people.
Montero has recalled that "surveys are even being done on Twitter (formerly X). The people themselves are saying come on, let's participate. Well, damn it, let's give the word to the people, let them place each one of us in our place and let's move forward so that this legislature is to lower the price of rents and the cost of living," she concluded.
Pablo Iglesias criticizes that the memberships are not consulted
The former secretary general of Podemos, Pablo Iglesias, has also spoken about this debate, who has described it as "unjustifiable" that there are party leaders "who cling to the chair and do not give the word to their own memberships."
In a message on "X", Iglesias referred to the poll launched by a user on that social network, which already has the participation of "more than 70,000 people voting." "The desire to participate and vote among left-wing people is evident," he added.