Implosion in the negotiations of the alternative left for the elections. The latest movements of Podemos finalizing an electoral alliance with ERC have turned the situation around, because the purple party has managed to sign Gabriel Rufián as an ally to personally intervene in the reconfiguration of the space in favor of Irene Montero and seeking, in practice, the dismantling of the Frente Amplio as it was being put together to light a new platform along the lines of Unidas Podemos. This can have several consequences. That the left ends up uniting in a bad way from balances different from those they aimed for, that this unitary candidacy is achieved but loses parties or people along the way or, in the most extreme case, that the space is fractured into two lists and the division of the vote is confirmed.
Right now the board on the left is a great chess game where moves, ambushes and attacks take place. The deadline to register electoral coalitions ends at 11:59 p.m. this Friday. So, counting today, there are only five days left to close the agreements. However, the passage of hours since the elections were called has only made the situation much more confusing.
No wonder, after this heart-stopping weekend, there is uncertainty, even stupefaction, because no one can guess how it will all end. Nor if Rufián's entry into action will allow the negotiations to be unblocked or if, on the contrary, it could make them worse.
The key to this weekend's implosion is in Catalonia. Rufián has signed peace with Oriol Junqueras to repeat as ERC candidate in the general elections. This, as is evident, slams the door for him to be a candidate for the Frente Amplio, as Ada Colau had asked him to do.
Actually, this is no surprise because it was the logical decision for both parties. On the other hand, it has been totally unexpected that Rufián has dragged his party into an alliance with Podemos. On the one hand, the purple ones will make ERC, an independence party, their candidacy in Catalonia and, on the other hand, the Catalan deputy will be able to campaign in the rest of Spain for Irene Montero.
This coalition, especially due to the latter of its terms, breaks the framework in which the negotiations between Podemos and the Frente Amplio were taking place to go together. Because the purples now have a new trick to play and that is that, in the event that there is no agreement, they would go alone sponsored by the candidate most desired by the voters of Sumar's heir space, who is none other than Gabriel Rufián. With whom Montero could say that he forms an electoral tandem. This new scenario raises the stakes for the purple ones to negotiate more beneficial conditions, with more and better positions on the lists, and even claim to lead in Madrid.
Yesterday in the Frente Amplio there was disbelief at this astonishing turn that changes everything, because, out of prudence, the idea had spread that a unitary candidacy with Podemos could occur.
Now the chess game is being played in other terms because Rufián has taken the personal initiative to try to reconfigure the alliance of the left outside of Catalonia from other coordinates. And it is no secret that he has always opted for Irene Montero as the great candidate for Madrid.
After confirming an agreement with Junqueras that saves his position in ERC, Rufián threw himself into the task and personally contacted Izquierda Unida (IU) and Emilio Delgado (the critical sector of Más Madrid), with the aim of promoting new frameworks for a unity pact.
These calls provoked a resounding reaction from IU, which in a statement underlined its commitment to the Frente Amplio and all the parties that make it up, as well as its defense of Ada Colau as leader. That is to say, IU wants unity to be achieved within the Frente Amplio and under the leadership of the former mayor.
«Izquierda Unida has participated loyally from the first moment in the constitution of a Broad Front that must bring together all the political forces of the left of the State. Our will is unequivocal: we will not let go of any of them," the group said in its statement. Message that he wants Podemos within the alliance, but that he is not going to sacrifice anyone.
For this reason, IU made "a call for the responsibility of all political forces" to get out of the current blockade situation. "We have the obligation to live up to those who expect a political alternative capable of defending and expanding their rights," he noted.
«There is no single reason that prevents maximum understanding between organizations; nor so that individualities prevail over the interests of the social majority," says IU, in a notice that applies to Rufián and Podemos, but also to Más Madrid, for wanting Mónica García to be on the lists.
From the IU statement, the commitment to Ada Colau is very revealing, in full pressure from Rufián to place Montero. He affirms that the former mayor of Barcelona has "everything" of her "support" because it represents an opportunity to "widen" the space. Furthermore, he emphasizes that the unity project "must transcend the acronyms of each formation and connect with organized and mobilized society." An end that he sees in Colau.
In all this mess, Movimiento Sumar, another of the Frente Amplio parties, burst into the chaotic Sunday to express that in the formation they are "clear" and want the former mayor at the helm: "Ada Colau, Emilio Delgado and alliances with anyone who wants to come." A message from Verónica Barbero that appeals to "generosity" and "responsibility" in order to reach the unity list.
The entanglement leaves Comunes in a compromised situation. For Rufián, the unity of the left is represented in the ERC candidacy and, therefore, once it plans to join Podemos, the Catalan Broad Front party is in a position of weakness. Because Rufián's operation would try to devour his space and attract his voters.
The situation is very tense. And there are five days left for its outcome.
