Left-wing Podemos has final consultation with party members over Sumar coalition pact

In a last-minute strategic move to defuse internal controversies, left-wing party Unidas Podemos (EU Left) decided to consult its members about a sensitive coalition agreement with the new platform Sumar with less than 24 hours before the official deadline for forging pacts.

Despite several voices in Podemos urging for a quick agreement with Sumar’s leader and Spanish Minister of Labour, Yolanda Díaz, the party had by Thursday noon not yet given its green light to a progressive political merger, EURACTIV’s partner EFE reported.

At the centre of the controversy, and one of the main obstacles to an agreement, are two key political figures in Podemos: Irene Montero, Minister for Equality, and the party’s Secretary General and Minister for Social Rights, Ione Belarra, both considered “hawkish” and active feminists.

Montero, the former partner of Podemos founder Pablo Iglesias (who still controls the party in the shadows), is the main responsible and promoter of the controversial “only yes means yes” law, which had the opposite effect than intended and had to be urgently amended in Parliament at the initiative of the Socialist Party (PSOE/S&D) and with the approval of the centre-right Popular Party (PP/EPP).

Is Irene Montero the real problem?

However, after the crushing defeat suffered in the municipal and regional elections of 28 May, in which Podemos lost a large part of its regional power, several political analysts have pointed to the mistake of the “only yes means yes law” as one of the major failures of the PSOE-Unidas Podemos coalition, and which could be one of the reasons for the last regional defeat.

Now, there are many who do not want to see Montero playing a prominent role in this “grand coalition” of progressive forces that could eventually serve as a point of support for the PSOE if it does not win the general elections on 23 July.

Félix López-Rey, councillor of Madrid’s regional party Más Madrid publicly requested on Tuesday that Ione Belarra and Irene Montero step aside to unblock the agreement with Sumar.

“Imposing Irene Montero and Ione Belarra (in the Podemos list), the worst-rated ministers in the government, is a mistake by Pablo Iglesias that endangers the construction of a progressive alternative. It is time for generosity and a clear vision” (…) stressed this week Íñigo Errejón, also Más Madrid councillor.

In the mind of Spain’s acting prime minister and leader of the PSOE, Pedro Sánchez is perhaps to form another government alliance with the forces integrated in Sumar but with Yolanda Díaz as the main actor to stop a possible government of the Popular Party (PP/EPP) with the far-right Vox party (ECR).

Aware that not all Podemos activists are willing to accept the veto placed on Montero by some of her colleagues and, above all, by other left-wing parties, Belarra decided that the party’s activists will make the decision instead.

The internal referendum took place from 1:30 pm on Thursday until 10:00 am on Friday, as the deadline to register the (likely) Podemos-Sumar coalition ends on Friday at midnight.

Critical question

The critical question asked reads: “Do you accept that the Coordinating Council of Podemos, following the criteria of unity set by the State Citizens’ Council, negotiate with Sumar and, if necessary, agree on an electoral alliance between Podemos and Sumar?”

Anyone registered with Podemos who has verified their identity before 7 June can vote in the internet “flash referendum”.

At stake is the weight that each party (Podemos, Sumar and other small left-wing formations) should have, the names on the lists, the territorial power of each party, whether each party’s brand will appear on the ballot and the drafting of the programme.

Also under discussion is whether each party will have autonomy within the parliamentary group in parliament, what the structures of the groups in the two chambers will be like, and the distribution of public subsidies.

Until Thursday afternoon, Más Madrid (strong in the Spanish capital) had given its final green light to the agreement, as did other regional and smaller progressive parties such as Izquierda Unida, Chunta Aragonesista, Los Verdes Equo, Proyecto Drago de Canarias, Iniciativa del Pueblo Andaluz and AraMés in the Balearic Islands.

(Fernando Heller | EuroEFE.EURACTIV.es)