The parties integrated in Sumar will hold a key meeting this Sunday to analyze the political scenario opened after the rejection in Congress of the housing decrees and to organize the strategy to follow in light of the option of an electoral advance.
The meeting also comes marked by the entry of the Minister of Health, Mónica García, into the internal pools about who should lead the candidacy of the minority partner of the Government in the upcoming general elections. A sector of the space believes that her name should be considered, although she insists that, for now, she is focused on her work in the Executive and her role as the head of the list for the regional elections in the Community of Madrid in 2027.
After Junts confirmed they would vote against alongside PP and Vox, which led to the repeal of the measures promoted by the Government following the eviction case of Maricarmen, the perception within the Council of Ministers has spread that the president, Pedro Sánchez, is seriously weighing the dissolution of the Cortes and calling for elections before the end of the year.
The head of the Executive is contemplating this possibility over the weekend, also awaiting the social response and the mobilizations in defense of the right to housing.
In this context, the parties of the Sumar coalition have publicly limited themselves to expressing respect for the decision that Sánchez adopts and to emphasizing that they are "ready" and "prepared" for any outcome, including an electoral advance.
The minority partner of the Executive analyzes the new board
On the left, there are discrepancies about whether it is advisable to go to elections now: some sectors believe it is the time to capitalize on the current social mobilization, while others warn that the project of the state left still has issues to resolve, especially who will be the candidate for the general elections. This question remains open since Movimiento Sumar, Más Madrid, Comuns, and IU committed in February to run together in a broad coalition.
Since Friday, contacts have been taking place among the forces of Sumar that will continue this weekend, with a summit this Sunday in which the minority partner of the Executive will evaluate the political impact of the fall of the two housing decrees.
In principle, the meeting this Sunday will be attended mainly by the four parties represented in the Government, while another meeting is scheduled for Monday expanded to political allies and parliamentarians such as Compromís, Chunta Aragonesista, and Més per Mallorca.
Sources from these formations indicate that this meeting is not expected to formally address the debate on the candidate, although there are already leaders calling for the acceleration of the designation of the head of the list and to finalize the electoral brand — presumably Frente Amplio — to focus on the pre-campaign and provide certainty to the progressive electorate.
In that line, the federal coordinator of Izquierda Unida (IU), Antonio Maíllo, has demanded to establish as soon as possible the name that will appear on the ballot, the electoral leadership, and the programmatic bases of the joint candidacy.
The pull of Mónica García and her reservations
The resignation of the Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, to repeat as head of the list left a leadership vacuum in the Sumar space that has sparked speculation. The Minister of Social Rights, Pablo Bustinduy, has been self-excluding from those predictions, although his profile and, in particular, his discourse on housing enjoy broad recognition among the coalition parties.
However, internal sources from the minority partner admit that, as the newspaper 'El País' reported, in recent weeks the name of the Minister of Health has gained strength in those conversations and a sector of the space has raised it as an option to be studied among the possible profiles to lead the candidacy.
At the same time, different voices from the Sumar environment emphasize that García's hypothesis is very complicated, given that she has already been proclaimed head of the list of Más Madrid for the 2027 regional elections, as a result of an agreement with the sector led by regional deputy Emilio Delgado.
In those elections, the Madrid left intends to focus, resorting to state references such as Minister Óscar López in the case of PSOE or the deputy and 'purple' leader Ione Belarra in the case of Podemos.
For her part, García has made an effort to make it clear that she will not feed the speculation and that at this moment she is "Minister of Health" and is focused on the Community of Madrid, where she is already a candidate for the regional elections.
In interviews granted to 'TVE' and 'La Sexta', he reiterated this Friday that he is not going to enter the "game" of ruling himself out or not, recalling that the minority partner of the Executive has a table of parties that works with "a lot of care and fraternity" to make decisions collectively.
He also pointed out that he was not going to "give the headline" on whether he was ruling himself out, insisting that the choice of candidate will be a shared process among all organizations and that he was not going to speak out individually, beyond emphasizing that the space has numerous leaders with "a lot of talent and capacity".
Urtasun and Colau, alternatives in debate
In the internal betting, the Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, also figures, who, like García, has avoided entering the game of personal rulings out and limits himself to assuring that he will work to promote the candidacy along with the rest of the ministers and leaders.
Sources from Sumar's environment acknowledge that Urtasun's name has been considered, although they believe that his priority would be to head the list for Barcelona. In any case, they find it logical that the debate on leadership focuses on the ministers, being the visible face of the policies that Sumar promotes in this legislature.
Another figure that has gained presence is that of the former mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau. A few months ago, she was surveyed about whether she wanted to be a candidate and responded that no. However, in recent weeks she has increased her public exposure and has stated that she would be willing to return to the front line if it contributes to articulating a broad leftist front for the general elections, although making it clear that at this moment she is not "a candidate for anything".
The unknown of a possible alliance with Podemos
The minority partner of the Executive must also clarify the perimeter of the future candidacy, with the intention of reestablishing alliances with current parliamentary partners such as Compromís or Chunta and without closing the door to an understanding with Podemos.
However, the relationship between Sumar and the 'purples' continues to be marked by coldness 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.
The Podemos candidate and former Minister of Equality has proposed open primaries to the entire left, in which she intends to participate, with the idea that it should be the progressive bases who determine the weight of each formation on the list.
In parallel, the Sumar parties have urged Podemos to clarify first if it wants to integrate into a candidacy whose central objective is to reaffirm the current coalition Government and, only afterwards, discuss the method of election of the candidate, which must arise from the consensus among all the involved organizations.