Irene Montero has formalized this Saturday her intention to run in the next general elections and has proposed that her candidacy be submitted to open primaries beyond Podemos. The MEP and political secretary of the purple formation has argued that any citizen, regardless of whether they are part of the party or not, should be able to participate in that process.
The announcement took place during an event held at the Larra space in Madrid, in front of several hundred attendees. Montero used her speech to outline the main lines of her political project and closed the speech confirming that she wants to contest the candidacy for the Presidency of the Government.
Her proposal involves opening the election mechanism to people outside the membership of Podemos and even allowing other candidates to present themselves for the primaries.
Open primaries beyond Podemos
Montero has argued that the leadership of the candidacy should not be decided exclusively among the registered members of the formation.
Her approach involves primaries open to all citizens, both to vote and to present candidacies. The formula would allow for an attempt to build a broader electoral project than the Podemos brand itself.
The proposal comes at a time when the space to the left of the PSOE remains divided, with different formations exploring alliances for the upcoming general elections.
Podemos has insisted in recent months on the need to raise a candidacy with its own political identity, but Montero is now trying to add an element of openness that allows attracting people and sectors that are not part of the organization.
Five axes for her candidacy
During the event, Montero presented five major priorities on which she intends to build her electoral program.
The first is housing. The MEP has argued that housing should be primarily allocated to residence and not to speculation, and has demanded a reduction in prices. She has also proposed limiting the purchase of homes when the objective is exclusively speculative.
The second axis is the cost of living. Montero argues that the increase in prices is deteriorating the purchasing power of families and proposes placing the reduction of everyday expenses as one of the priorities of the next legislature.
Minimum wage of 1,800 euros and 30-hour workweek
The labor bloc is one of the most ambitious proposals put forward this Saturday.
Montero has defended a minimum wage of 1,800 euros and a workweek of 30 hours, under the idea of reducing the time spent on work without giving up on an improvement in income.
The proposal would go much further than the debates held during this legislature about reducing working hours and would allow Podemos to differentiate its program from both the PSOE and other left-wing formations.
The MEP has also linked the salary situation with the price of housing, food, and basic supplies, arguing that a growing part of family income ends up being used to cover these expenses.
Rejection of increased military spending
The third major banner will be foreign and defense policy.
Montero has reiterated her rejection of increasing military spending and has argued that Spain should not allocate more resources to armament. She has also questioned the country's participation in certain NATO strategies and the trade relationship with Israel.
Podemos has turned this position into one of its main elements of differentiation from the Government and other progressive forces over the last few years.
The candidate intends to maintain this line ahead of the general elections, placing pacifism and opposition to the arms escalation at the center of her campaign.
Housing, prices, and wealth distribution
A large part of Montero's speech has focused on the concentration of wealth and inequality.
The Podemos leader has argued that the main economic problems cannot be explained by blaming immigration, feminism, or other groups, but by addressing how resources are distributed and who benefits from economic growth.
Based on that thesis, she has proposed that the electoral program must recover issues she considers basic: being able to pay for housing, accessing essential goods, having free time, and having strong public services.
The climate completes the initial program
The fifth axis will be environmental protection and the fight against climate change.
Montero has argued that the ecological transition must be integrated alongside social policies and public services, avoiding that environmental measures primarily fall on households with fewer resources.
In this way, the project announced this Saturday is structured around five major blocks: housing, cost of living, peace, reduction of working hours and salaries, and protection of the planet.
A candidacy still pending alliances
The announcement confirms that Montero wants to lead a candidacy for the upcoming general elections, but it is still to be defined under what electoral formula it will finally run.
Podemos has shown its intention to build a broader space, although it maintains strong differences with Movimiento Sumar and with some of the forces with which it shared candidacy in 2023.
The proposal for open primaries can now become a tool to try to expand that space without limiting the process to the internal structures of the party.
Montero has made clear, at least, the first part of the movement: she wants to run in the general elections and wants the candidacy to be decided through a process in which anyone can participate, not just the members of Podemos.