The alternative left faces "in extremis" negotiations to shape its electoral proposal, with Podemos and Frente Amplio once again displaying their discrepancies, exchanging initiatives but not entirely closing the door to some type of understanding ahead of the 29N.
On the autonomous level, the landscape remains open in Comunidad Valenciana, Aragón, and Baleares just two days before the deadline to register coalitions for the general elections. Compromís, Chunta Aragonesista, and Ara Més aspire to lead unitary lists alongside state left forces, in conversations that are progressing with difficulty.
The majority of actors situated to the left of the PSOE take for granted that they will reach Friday, the deadline to register coalitions before the Electoral Board, with the agreements still unclosed and rushing the last hours to seal broad candidacies that optimize the result in elections where most polls predict a majority for PP and Vox.
SURPRISING MOVE BY COLAU
In this scenario, the former mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, surprised this Wednesday by showing her willingness to renounce being a candidate for the Presidency of the Government, a proposal that had been conveyed to her by the Sumar parties, if it facilitated an agreement for a unitary list with Podemos and other sovereignist forces.
She has even accepted the possibility of modifying the electoral brand agreed upon by IU, Movimiento Sumar, Más Madrid, and Comuns, despite these formations having officially announced shortly after her words the final logo of Frente Amplio and their profiles on social media.
Colau, who had expressed her willingness to lead the candidacy if a broad list that integrated Podemos and other parties was achieved, has emphasized that the coalition must be plural and has pointed out rising figures such as the regional deputy of Más Madrid, Emilio Delgado, ratified by consensus as number one for Madrid.
Her gesture has been valued by various leaders as a show of generosity and clear willingness for agreement in the face of the "narratives of others," in the words of the federal coordinator of IU, Antonio Maíllo. From outside the front line of politics, the former general coordinator of IU has also supported this maneuver on social media, although he considers that Podemos "threw in the towel a long time ago" and that its strategy has been "to build a niche trench from which to resist the reactionary wave."
PODEMOS INSISTS ON MONTERO'S LEADERSHIP IN TANDEM WITH RUFIÁN
On the other hand, the general secretary of Podemos, Irene Montero, has responded that her party feels comfortable with the collaboration agreement reached with ERC, which guarantees the tandem formed by the republican Gabriel Rufián and the former Minister of Equality Irene Montero, leaderships that, in her opinion, are what the citizens demand this 29N to have a strong left.
In addition, she has reiterated that Frente Amplio rejected holding primaries to choose the candidate and thus resolve internal differences, allowing the membership to decide with their vote the weight of each formation. However, she has emphasized that she keeps her hand extended to Frente Amplio and other parties to articulate broad candidacies and that "not a single vote is lost," starting from the premise that the reference project will be the team formed by Rufián and Montero in the campaign.
In this line, Belarra has stressed that all attention should not be concentrated in Madrid or Barcelona and has assured that her formation is working against the clock to close alliances in the Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, or Valencia Community.
OPENS THE POSSIBILITY OF AGREEMENT IN SEVERAL AUTONOMIES
In this way, she hinted that there are options for confluence in certain constituencies, regardless of what ultimately happens in Madrid, and with the premise that in Barcelona they will support the candidacy of ERC, by virtue of the agreement reached.
With this, she pointed to a possible scenario of an asymmetric map in these elections, with agreements in some autonomous communities and greater fragmentation in Madrid and Catalonia, where the dispersion of the vote would not translate into such a pronounced loss of seats. A proposal that, for example, was not ruled out by the former leader of Podemos Pablo Iglesias in the program "La Base" of Canal Red, the medium directed by the also former "purple" leader.
For her part, the MEP and main electoral reference of Podemos, Irene Montero, has emphasized that she will fulfill the mandate of the primaries in which she runs as the only candidate and that offered Frente Amplio as a way for unity, although this new space rejected joining by first demanding a negotiation between parties.
Montero and the Secretary of Organization of Podemos, Pablo Fernández, insist that they are still immersed in conversations to close agreements with leftist forces on the territorial level and that there is a possibility that these formations and those of Frente Amplio will integrate in the different territories.
Sources from the minority partner of the coalition emphasize that they keep their hand extended to Podemos, as agreed on Monday, but they stress that the margin for understanding in the list for the capital cannot involve yielding the first position, already agreed for Delgado.
NO AGREEMENTS YET IN BALEARES AND VALENCIA
In the territorial sphere, the situation remains undefined. In Baleares, the Ara Més forces insist on leading a united candidacy for the general elections and reject that the head of the list be from Podemos or that the possible seats in the archipelago be alternated with the purples.
In the Community of Valencia, Compromís is maintaining contacts with all formations, although for now a definitive agreement has not been channeled. In both cases, it is assumed that the conversations will extend until Friday.