The Más Madrid deputy in Congress Tesh Sidi will be number two on the Frente Amplio candidacy for the general elections on November 29, behind Emilio Delgado. Her designation comes after the Minister of Health, Mónica García, decided not to run in the elections to facilitate an agreement with Podemos that ultimately did not prosper.
Sidi confirmed her position on the list this Tuesday during an appearance in Congress, where she also responded to criticisms from Podemos and to the call from the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, to concentrate the progressive vote in the PSOE. The deputy has questioned that the socialists present themselves as the main left option while rejecting initiatives promoted by their government partners.
The statements come as Frente Amplio finalizes its candidacies for the 29N and tries to close the distribution of positions among the organizations that make up the coalition, while differences with the PSOE and Podemos intensify just over a month before the elections.
Más Madrid will occupy three of the top five positions
The planned distribution for the Madrid constituency grants Izquierda Unida the third position and Movimiento Sumar the fourth, while the fifth position will again correspond to Más Madrid, according to sources from the political space consulted by Europa Press. Unless there are last-minute changes, this last position will be for the councilor of the Madrid City Council Eduardo Fernández Rubiño.
In this way, Más Madrid will have three representatives among the top five positions of the candidacy, led by Emilio Delgado and Tesh Sidi. The formation had previously agreed that both deputies and Fernández Rubiño would be their main electoral references for the general elections.
For its part, IU has chosen in its primaries the Andalusian coordinator, Toni Valero, as the main electoral reference, while Movimiento Sumar has done the same with its co-coordinator, Verónica Barbero. Both organizations will have positions considered as outgoing, although the constituencies in which their respective leaders will run have not yet been specified.
Sidi has defended that Más Madrid has been "generous" in the negotiation of the Madrid lists by facilitating prominent positions to IU and Movimiento Sumar. She has also highlighted the role of Mónica García in the construction of Frente Amplio and explained that the minister decided to step aside from the candidacy to favor an understanding with Podemos.
García, who was among the possible names to lead the state project before the election of Ada Colau, will be the candidate of Más Madrid for the 2027 regional elections, after the agreement reached with the internal sector led by Emilio Delgado.
Sidi responds to Belarra and denies programmatic differences with Podemos
The new number two of Frente Amplio for Madrid has also responded to the general secretary of Podemos, Ione Belarra, who has presented the coalition as a project subordinated to the PSOE. Sidi has described those criticisms as "an insult" and has defended that the programmatic differences between both formations are "non-existent."
"I find them an insult because both Unidas Podemos and Sumar, in government coalition, have been with the PSOE," affirmed the deputy, who recalled the difficulties of negotiating measures with the socialists from the Executive.
Sidi has challenged Belarra to specify which proposals separate the two organizations and has mentioned the coincidences on issues such as Gaza, the revaluation of pensions, and the extension of rental contracts.
"We have voted together on many things," she pointed out, before insisting that the progressive formations share a good part of their political proposals.
The parliamentarian has called to abandon internal disputes and concentrate efforts on the differences with the right. "We have to go as one. If we are not on the same ballot, let the urns make it a reality", she demanded, despite the fact that Frente Amplio and Podemos will run separately in different constituencies.
Frente Amplio accuses the PSOE of playing to be "the Che Guevara of the left"
Sidi's criticisms have also been directed at the PSOE after Pedro Sánchez asked this Monday, during a rally in Valladolid, to "bet everything on red" in the general elections.
The deputy has reproached the socialists for resorting to the argument of the useful vote during electoral campaigns while, in her opinion, they resist supporting certain measures defended by the formations situated to their left.
"Of course we know that the PSOE, in elections and in campaigns, plays to be the Che Guevara of the left, but it is not going to deceive progressive voters", he declared.
Sidi has cited the discrepancies in housing matters, especially the proposals to limit tourist apartments and the rental of rooms, and has claimed the role of the forces to the left of the PSOE in pushing for the arms embargo on Israel.
He has also acknowledged that the organizations of his political space have dedicated "a lot of time" to discussing their internal relations and electoral unity, instead of focusing on their proposals and the problems of citizens.
The deputy has advanced that Frente Amplio will remember during the campaign the parliamentary votes of the socialists to contrast their electoral promises with the decisions made during the legislature.
"The legacy of the PSOE is not its promises in the electoral campaign, but what they have voted during the legislature and the measures they have brought," he stated.
Frente Amplio demands to recover nationality for Sahrawis
Among the measures that Sidi has demanded from the PSOE is the initiative to facilitate Spanish nationality for Sahrawis, whose processing was interrupted with the dissolution of the Cortes.
The deputy has urged Sánchez to demonstrate his commitment to progressive proposals by recovering this measure, which had advanced in Congress with agreements between different groups and without the opposition of the PP, which abstained.
Sidi has demanded "courage" from the president to prevent Spain from leaving "once again stranded" the citizens of Sahrawi origin and the families participating in the reception programs for minors from the refugee camps.
"It is not enough to just appease things with Morocco by sending the monarch to Ceuta, we must aspire to more," he stated, referring to the recent visit of the Kings to the autonomous city.