The Frente Amplio proposes Ada Colau as a candidate for the presidency and leaves the integration of Podemos open

After a week of tug-of-war, Izquierda Unida, Comuns, Más Madrid and Movimiento Sumar have proposed this Monday Ada Colau as a candidate for the presidency of the Government in the general elections of 29-N. In a statement, the four formations that currently make up the Frente Amplio do not clarify which constituency the former mayor of Barcelona will run for, one of the fundamental points of friction that has kept the negotiations blocked all these days. But the announcement of the collaboration agreement between Podemos and ERC - which has shaken the space - in a context of collapse predicted by the polls has precipitated the outcome in a meeting of the parties on Monday afternoon, aware that they had to come out and give a response now.

"We want to convey our conviction that Ada Colau is the figure who can best assume leadership in the current political situation," reads the text issued by the parties, which expresses "their will" for her to be the candidate. "We want to count and we will work to ensure that all the organizations that came together in 2023 and made it possible to revalidate the coalition government are there. Podemos is also invited to be part of this project and it is time for all organizations to clearly express their willingness to contribute to unity. There is no one left over here," they specify in an express appeal to those of Ione Belarra.

The four organizations had been very tense since the middle of last week, negotiating through the media, and lost Friday, Saturday and part of Sunday waiting for Gabriel Rufián to decide whether he would go to the general elections with the Republicans, with a public offer for him to make the jump to the state coalition.

Rufián's slamming of the door on this proposal and the pact with Podemos deeply angered Comuns, his electoral rival in Catalonia, who released a very harsh statement early this Monday afternoon in response to the agreement. "Rufián came to unify the left and is doing everything possible to divide them," says the organization in the text, which adds that his latest movements have generated "deep disappointment" in the left-wing electorate. The ERC spokesperson avoided entering into provocations and responded with a message on networks in which he did not close the door to an agreement of all the left. The conversations with leaders of IU and Más Madrid had taken place since Sunday, according to different sources, although without any conclusion.

"We are facing a historic moment that demands responsibility, generosity and putting the well-being of the people before any other consideration. Unity is the best guarantee to stop PP and Vox, revalidate the progressive coalition government and continue expanding rights," adds this afternoon's text, which appeals to the protests for the right to housing unleashed in recent weeks.

The script has been changing drastically every day since President Pedro Sánchez called the general elections last Monday. The week started with the ministers Mónica García and Ernest Urtasun, the leader of IU, Antonio Maíllo, and one of the two coordinators of Movimiento Sumar, Verónica Barbero, saying they were ready to fight in a joint appearance in which they ruled out any possibility of primaries. Urtasun invited Podemos to sit down and negotiate, despite the fact that that same morning, Irene Montero had proposed voting for the head of the left's list on October 14 and 15. The party has unilaterally launched this process, but without the nomination of another candidate other than the MEP having emerged and, in any case, Podemos has negotiated in parallel with those of Rufián. Their agreement establishes that the two leaders will hold campaign events together and that Podemos will support ERC in Catalonia in exchange for integrating an independent on its list.

At the same time, Ada Colau's option to lead the political space was gaining strength, and on Wednesday, Mónica García took a step back and nominated the former leader of Comuns for Barcelona to be the presidential candidate. The offer was also a way to reject the former mayor being on the ballot for Madrid, one of the points that has blocked the agreement for days. After Rufián's period of reflection, Más Madrid took a step further on Sunday by proposing its regional deputy, Emilio Delgado, critical of the leadership, to head the list, followed by García, and now open it to Podemos, IU and Movimiento Sumar.

But nothing was clear at the end of the day and Colau had made his leadership subject to Belarra's team entering the equation. This incorporation and the figure of the Barcelonan had already been endorsed on Wednesday by the federal coordinator of Izquierda Unida, but given Colau's doubts and the fear that he would take a step back, all the Front parties came out again on Sunday to support her and call for an agreement, a request, the latter, to which the general secretaries of the Workers' Commissions and UGT, Unai Sordo and Pepe Álvarez, joined.