The spokesperson for Sumar in Congress, Verónica Martínez Barbero, has refused to specify if she will take the step to lead the formation, mired in a strong internal crisis, in the general assembly scheduled for July 11, and has insisted that any decision on this matter will be made collegially.
In a press conference in the Lower House, she argued that her criterion is that issues affecting her political organization should not be decided personally, so they will be resolved "collectively, among all, what they deem best."
In relation to the crisis that arose after the resignation letter of the former Organization Secretary, Laura Moreno, revealed that the current general coordinator of Movimiento Sumar, Lara Hernández, is being subjected to an internal investigation for alleged abusive treatment of party employees, the parliamentary spokesperson avoided commenting on this complaint and limited herself to demanding "absolute respect" for the outcome of the anti-harassment procedure.
The consensus candidacy remains the goal
Amidst internal confrontation, the sector aligned with the general coordinator has rejected accusations of mistreatment of workers and has denounced that a "witch hunt" and a political campaign to discredit her have been unleashed with the aim of removing her from the leadership of Sumar. In Hernández's circle, they indicate that she has not yet decided whether she will run for re-election at the next assembly.
In the internal predictions for the congress, the possibility is being considered that the parliamentary spokesperson herself and the Secretary of State for Social Rights, Rosa Martínez, may be potential candidates to lead a bid to head the party, although sources from the deputy's sector emphasize that this option is more a "wishful thinking" of some Sumar militants than a real scenario. "The decision has not been made," these sources stress.
However, the different currents agree that the most appropriate way out of the current situation is to articulate a unity list to renew the leadership of Movimiento Sumar and try to close the internal rift.
Territorial leaders warn: "a simple change of names is not enough"
In parallel, a dozen regional co-coordinators of Movimiento Sumar, along with several members of the Coordinating Group, have warned through an opinion piece in the newspaper 'Público' that the general assembly cannot be limited to a "simple change of names or a dispute over organic positions," and they demand to address the party model and debate the type of relationship it should maintain with a "PSOE tainted by corruption."
This group of leaders, including Andalusian deputy Esperanza Gómez and magistrate Juan Pedro Yllanes, acknowledge that they have followed "with concern and anguish" the "questioning of the political project" in which they participate.
"We do not deny the gravity of the events nor the depth of the crisis we are going through. It would be a mistake to do so. But we also believe that this harsh reality offers us the opportunity to react," they state in the article.
In that text, they recall that Sumar achieved an "electoral conquest" under the leadership of the second vice president, Yolanda Díaz, but, at the same time, it suffered from a "fundamental deficiency": the construction of the political and organizational space that should sustain the project beyond institutions, remaining in mere "governmental action."
Therefore, they emphasize that a political force "cannot be sustained solely on institutional presence" and needs to have "a life of its own." In their opinion, in that "context of organizational fragility and lack of political momentum, which can hardly surprise anyone, an internal crisis has been unleashed whose resolution we have decided to address democratically" in the assembly, which, they argue, must become the occasion to introduce changes and correct the course of Movimiento Sumar.