The parties integrated in Sumar have decided that on the next October 17 they will make their candidacy for the upcoming general elections public and will announce the electoral reference of the future coalition, regardless of whether the elections are finally advanced or not. They have also ratified that the name under which they will run will be "Frente Amplio".
This agreement has been finalized at the summit held this Sunday among the ministers and the formations participating in the Government for the minority quota (Movimiento Sumar, IU, Más Madrid, and Comuns), in a context marked by the rejection in Congress of the two housing decrees, which has led the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, to consider a possible electoral advance.
After the meeting, the formations have emphasized that the massive and unprecedented mobilizations of these days show that "rentism" is the wound that "bleeds the country" and that both institutions and parties must address this social outcry, given that "there is no legislature without housing".
"Whether elections are called or not, from the Frente Amplio we will continue working to take charge of the demands from the streets and protect all those for whom their home is not a source of tranquility but of insecurity," sources from the minority partner have indicated.
In this line, they emphasize that the power to advance elections is "exclusive" to Sánchez and assure that they are ready for any scenario, asserting themselves as the "essential" left to renew the coalition government for another four years. Therefore, they have made a "call to the citizenry and civil society to attend the launch of the Frente Amplio and its roadmap".
With this step, the four forces present in the Government set a definitive date for the start of the candidacy, after the commitment to run together again reached in February, and also close the debate on the electoral brand, which will be "Frente Amplio", a name that had already been considered the most likely for the ballot.
During the weekend, different sensitivities within the alternative left space regarding the political moment have become evident. The co-spokesperson of the Comuns, Aina Vidal, defended the option of submitting the housing decrees to Congress again.
On the other hand, the parliamentary spokesperson for IU leaned towards early elections so that the discontent generated by the housing crisis is expressed at the polls. The federal coordinator, Antonio Maíllo, has pointed out on social media that there is a broad social mobilization and that the "transformative left is prepared and up to the task."
It remains unclear who will lead the candidacy
For now, the parties of Sumar have not communicated who their candidate for the presidency of the Government will be, although they have already set a date to clarify that uncertainty and close the period of leadership vacuum that they have been dragging since the second vice president, Yolanda Díaz, resigned from running again as a candidate.
In the internal betting, ministers are mainly mentioned, and in recent weeks, the name of the Minister of Health and leader of Más Madrid, Mónica García, has gained strength, who has tried to curb the rumors by insisting that she is only focused on her role as head of the list in Madrid.
Sources from Sumar explain that part of the space considers her a feasible option, despite the added difficulty that she has already been designated as a candidate for the regional elections in Madrid in 2027.
Other sectors point to a possible scheme in which García leads the list for Madrid and forms a tandem with the Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, who has also been mentioned as an electoral reference and would be positioned as number one for Barcelona. The Minister of Social Rights, Pablo Bustinduy, is a highly valued figure in the organizations, but his name has been ruled out on several occasions as the head of the list.
In that internal debate, the former mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, has also appeared, who has increased her public activity and has expressed her willingness to return to the front line if it contributes to articulating a broad front of the entire alternative left, although she has emphasized that she is not "a candidate for anything" right now.
According to sources from the space, months ago, the former leader of the Comuns was surveyed about the possibility of leading the candidacy, but at that time she rejected that option.
Doubts about a possible alliance with Podemos
At the same time, the parties of the minority partner of the Executive still need to define the scope of their project and how many forces will integrate the candidacy, with the intention of renewing agreements with their current parliamentary allies and keeping the option of also adding Podemos open.
However, the distance between Sumar and the 'purples' persists since the state rupture of 2023, with exchanges of messages and divergent strategies: while Sumar claims the management of the Government, Podemos maintains a critical stance.
An example is the proposal of the Podemos candidate and former Minister of Equality, who has proposed open primaries to the entire left, in which she wants to compete so that the progressive bases determine the weight of each formation on the list.
For their part, the parties of Sumar demand that Podemos first clarify whether it wishes to integrate into a candidacy whose central objective is to revalidate the coalition Government and, only after that, address the system for choosing the candidate, which must be defined by consensus among all the involved organizations.