Spanish left-wing group Sumar is already working on presenting a strong candidacy for the EU elections, as the group sees the elections as the key to its project in Spain and the EU, Culture Minister and spokesman for the progressive Sumar platform Ernest Urtasun told a press conference on Monday.
At a press conference in Madrid, Urtasun said that Sumar is already working on a “powerful candidacy” for the EU elections in June because the progressive formation believes these are key elections for its left-wing project in Spain and Europe, Euractiv´s partner EFE.
“We need to send a message to the whole of Europe that Spain speaks in a progressive key”, Urtasun told the press conference on Monday.
Suma is banking on the elections in the northwestern region of Galicia, said Urtasun about elections set for 18 February and for which the right-wing Partido Popular party (EPP), which is also the main opposition in the Spanish parliament, is currently leading the regional polls.
However, following that, Sumar will focus on the European elections, Urtasun added.
Commenting about the platform’s chances in upcoming elections, the spokesperson said he was optimistic, predicting that the group that brings together 14 heterogenous left-wing parties could win seven seats in the EU elections.
The Podemos party, until recently a member of Sumar, would gain one seat, that of controversial former equality minister Irene Montero, who officially announced her candidacy for the European elections on Monday.
Urtasun assured that, as the weeks go by, the latest polls show that the left, currently composed of Sanchez’s PSOE and Sumar, can achieve a majority in Galicia, as in the national elections on 23 July.
“If the same people who voted progressive on 23 July vote (in February), there will be political change” in Galicia, he stressed.
(Fernando Heller | EuroEFE.Euractiv.es)
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