Movimiento Sumar faces this Thursday the meeting of its highest executive body, in which it must decide whether to greenlight the celebration on July 11 of its new general assembly, in a context of strong tension due to the internal crisis opened after the resignation of the former Secretary of Organization, Laura Moreno, who left with harsh accusations against the current general coordinator, Lara Hernández.
In this scenario, several officials of the party recognize that outwardly the image projected is that of a "cricket cage" and an organization immersed in a "witch hunt" just before its congress. In parallel, Sumar's partners insist that these organic turbulences do not compromise the fit of the electoral coalition they seek to revalidate together with IU, Comuns, and Más Madrid.
Ahead of the next assembly —the third in three years— candidacies for the new leadership have not yet been configured, and doubt persists as to whether a consensus list will be achieved or if there will finally be an open clash between the two blocs vying for future control of Movimiento Sumar.
Hernández has not yet clarified whether she intends to seek re-election, while the spokesperson in Congress, Verónica Martínez Babero, has not closed the door to running for internal leadership, stating that she is at the disposal of what her party determines.
For now, the members of the Coordinating Group —the main governing body between assemblies— will hold a telematic meeting this Thursday to decide whether to ratify the proposal to convene the congress on the 11th, as well as the assembly's regulations and the texts prepared by the preparatory commission to update the party's political and organizational ideology.
The internal fracture has deepened after the former head of Organization revealed in her resignation letter the existence of a complaint against Lara Hernández, promoted by six political officials, for alleged humiliating treatment of five workers, in addition to alluding to alleged fraud in the election of Sumar's leadership in the Valencian Community and denouncing that she had been removed from the core where decisions are made.
In contrast, sources close to the general coordinator maintain that Hernández faces the process with serenity and that internal mechanisms must be allowed to act, convinced that the outcome will show that her conduct with the staff was correct. "There is nothing, everything will be clarified," they emphasize.
Accusations of "political witch hunt" and clash between factions
From the sector aligned with Lara Hernández, it is denounced that she is being the victim of a "political witch hunt" by her critics in Sumar and that everything related to the complaint for alleged harassment and the internal investigation is a "disgrace," given that, as they emphasize, the leader does not know precisely what she is accused of and has not been able to access the complaint document.
Along these lines, they point out that the general coordinator is suffering a "witch hunt" driven by "factional" movements that try to present her as a "tyrant" who imposes her criteria, when, they argue, all decisions made in Sumar since Vice President Yolanda Díaz resigned from organic leadership have been collegial and collective.
Likewise, they justify her distancing herself from the former Organization Secretary, whom they reproach for disloyalty and maneuvers against the leadership. They also deny the alleged fraud in the Valencia primaries and hold Moreno responsible for the fact that, on the eve of the vote, irregularities appeared in the census, with the incorporation of 50 "carpetbaggers" and the consequent request to challenge the process.
Some supporters of the current coordinator even recommend that she not run for re-election, considering the practices that, in their opinion, have been used to force her departure unacceptable. They argue that, instead of openly proposing a political alternative to Hernández, a "political witch hunt" against her has been chosen.
On the contrary, voices from the critical sector maintain that Hernández has displayed authoritarian behaviors since she took office, with "obsessive" attitudes and behaviors aimed at cornering other party cadres. They also assure that there are documented situations that would fit patterns of mistreatment towards a group of employees.
Despite the discrepancies, all consulted parties acknowledge that the fracture in Movimiento Sumar is evident and that demoralization has set in among a large part of the party's militants and cadres.
Furthermore, the perception is spreading that the coordinator has been losing internal support, especially since Díaz confirmed that she would not be a candidate in the next general election. The critical wing points out that Hernández's entourage is trying to maneuver to cushion this loss of support ahead of the assembly.
Silence in the leadership and concern among allies
For now, Sumar's main public references have opted for discretion. Neither Yolanda Díaz nor the spokesperson and minister Ernest Urtasun have yet spoken publicly about this organic power struggle.
The Minister of Social Rights, Pablo Bustinduy, has appealed to respect the "internal channels" of Sumar and has called on the entire 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, emphasizing that he does not comment on internal matters of other parties and considers it a "waste of time" to debate Sumar's problems. From Más Madrid, the deputy Tesh Sidi has called for responsibility and transparency to face the crisis.
Among Sumar's allies, it is admitted that the image conveyed to the progressive electorate is "ugly" and that the conflict exhibits the formation's organic weakness.
However, other sectors of Sumar's partners in the plurinational group downplay the scope of the crisis and emphasize that in no case does it jeopardize the objective of once again articulating a unitary candidacy for the alternative left, recalling that Sumar is the smallest party within the minority partner of the Government.
At the same time, they detect a component of political dispute surrounding the accusations against Sumar's coordinator and emphasize that accusing is one thing and proving the facts is quite another.
Rufián asks not to "destroy other lefts"
Esquerra's spokesperson in Congress, Gabriel Rufián, avoided commenting in the corridors of the Chamber on the allegations of alleged workplace harassment in Sumar when asked by journalists.
Later, he did express himself 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 vent. We all have that (and nobody is interested in it)," he wrote, in a message reported by Europa Press.