Movimiento Sumar faces a key meeting of its highest executive body this Thursday, in which it will be decided whether to convene the new general assembly for July 11, amid strong internal tension following the resignation of former Organization Secretary, Laura Moreno, who left the position with harsh accusations against the current general coordinator, Lara Hernández.
Several leaders admit that the public image projected by the party is that of a "cage of crickets" immersed in a "witch hunt" just before the congress process. At the same time, within the space, voices persist that still aspire to articulate a consensus list for that assembly to put an end to the confrontation that divides the party.
Sumar's partners insist that these turbulences do not affect the re-edition of the electoral coalition with IU, Comuns, and Más Madrid, which continue to work to maintain the alliance.
Looking ahead to the next assembly —the third in just three years— there are still no defined candidates for the new leadership, and the doubt looms as to whether a unified candidacy will be achieved or if there will finally be an open struggle between the two blocs vying for control of Movimiento Sumar.
In this context, Hernández has not yet clarified whether she intends to run for re-election, and her circle indicates that the decision remains undecided. In turn, the spokesperson in Congress, Verónica Martínez Babero, has left the door open to running for organic leadership, emphasizing that she is available for whatever her party decides.
For now, the members of the Coordinating Group —the highest executive body between assemblies— will connect remotely this Thursday to vote on whether to give the green light to the celebration of the congress on the 11th, the assembly's regulations, and the political and organizational texts prepared by the preparatory commission to update the organization's ideology.
The crisis has intensified after the former head of Organization revealed in her resignation letter the existence of a complaint against Lara Hernández, filed by six political officials for alleged abusive treatment of five workers, alluded to an alleged fraud in the election of Sumar's leadership in the Valencian Community, and denounced that she had been removed from the core where decisions are made.
From the general coordinator's circle, they maintain, on the contrary, that Hernández remains serene and that internal mechanisms should be allowed to act, convinced that the investigation will show that her conduct with the staff was correct. "There is nothing, everything will be clarified," these sources emphasize.
Accusations of "political witch hunt" and clash between factions
The sector aligned with Hernández denounces that the leader is suffering a "political witch hunt" driven by her internal adversaries and calls "a disgrace" everything related to the complaint for alleged harassment and the open investigation, given that, as they emphasize, the coordinator does not precisely know the facts attributed to her and has not been able to access the complaint document.
Along these lines, they accuse her critics of organizing a "hunt" through "factional" movements that seek to portray her as a "tyrant" who imposes her criteria, when—they underline—the decisions adopted in Sumar since Yolanda Díaz's resignation from organic leadership have been collegial and collective.
They also justify her distancing herself from the former Secretary of Organization, to whom they attribute a lack of loyalty and maneuvers against the coordinator. Furthermore, they deny any fraud in the Valencia primaries and hold Moreno responsible for the fact that, on the eve of the vote, anomalies appeared in the census with the entry of 50 "parachutists," which led to a demand for the process to be challenged.
Among Hernández's supporters, there are even those who recommend that she not run again, considering the way pressure has been applied to force her out unacceptable. In their opinion, instead of proposing an open political alternative, a "political witch hunt" has been chosen to remove her.
On the contrary, the critical sector maintains that Hernández has shown authoritarian traits since taking office, with "obsessive" attitudes and behaviors aimed at cornering other party members. They add that there are documented episodes that would correspond to situations of mistreatment towards a group of workers.
Despite the differences, all sources consulted agree that the internal fracture in Movimiento Sumar is evident and that demoralization has spread among the party's militants and cadres.
It is also perceived that the coordinator has been losing support, especially after Yolanda Díaz confirmed that she will not run again as a candidate in the next general elections. In the critical sector, they warn that Hernández's team would be maneuvering to cushion that loss of support before the assembly.
Silence of the main leaders and reaction of other forces
The most visible figures of Sumar have opted for discretion, such as Díaz herself or the spokesperson and minister Ernest Urtasun, who have not yet publicly commented on the internal conflict.
The Minister of Social Rights, Pablo Bustinduy, has called for respect for the "internal channels" of Sumar and has called on the left to focus on "what really matters to people" and not on the "internal life" of organizations.
In similar terms, the parliamentary spokesperson for IU, Enrique Santiago, has expressed himself, avoiding commenting on the internal matters of other forces and calling it a "waste of time" to dwell on Sumar's problems. For her part, the deputy from Más Madrid, Tesh Sidi, has appealed for responsibility and transparency to face this crisis.
Among Sumar's allies, it is admitted that the image projected to the progressive electorate is "ugly" and that the conflict exhibits the formation's organic weakness. However, other sectors of the partners of the plurinational group downplay the situation and emphasize that in no case does it jeopardize the construction of a new alternative left-wing candidacy, recalling that Sumar is the smallest party within the minority partner of the Government.
These allies also point out that a political component weighs on the crisis and emphasize that presenting accusations is one thing, and being able to prove them is quite another.
Rufián's message on the unity of the left
The spokesperson for Esquerra in Congress, Gabriel Rufián, refused to comment in the corridors of the Chamber on the allegations of alleged workplace harassment in Sumar.
Later, he did so through his 'X' account: "About Sumar and company, I will only say that the best way to 'destroy the right' is not to destroy other lefts. No matter how many bills and how much you want to rip. Which we all have (and nobody is interested in)," he wrote in a message collected by Europa Press.