The Frente Amplio parties have become entangled in a battle for electoral lists that is escalating and has triggered tension within Sumar's heir coalition. As EL MUNDO published last Wednesday, the Madrid case is a powder keg that threatens to explode. Más Madrid demands as a hegemonic territorial force to lead and compose the candidacy in this constituency, however, the rest of the partners also demand to have positions there and open a gap for Podemos. The situation is entrenched and this has led to an internal confrontation that has unleashed a very strong clash and great unrest among the allies against Más Madrid.
Concern is deep within the forces that make up the Broad Front about the consequences this may have, although there is hope that the situation will be redirected. Sumar Movement has issued a statement this Friday in which it wants to break its "silence" to get the situation back on track and in which it calls on its "sister forces" to "sit down to dialogue and cooperate with discretion and generosity." A very significant message about how the matter is.
With unusual content, the party founded by Yolanda Díaz and now headed by Verónica Barbero and Rosa Martínez asks all parties to negotiate "with the disposition maintained in recent months and defend the meaning with which this political proposal was born, which is none other than to build a common project with generosity and breadth."
Movimiento Sumar emphasizes that the Frente Amplio is a political project where "everyone" has to fit and where decisions have to be made "jointly, thinking about everything that is fundamental." "We have a shared responsibility with citizens," he warns, "that responsibility consists of caring about what is important." And he cites housing, the cost of living, the minimum wage or climate change.
But the reality is that right now the electoral program and the political project of the Frente Amplio have been degraded to a corner, because as it has arrived with so many tasks to do, the coalition is negotiating crucial issues. From the candidate for the general elections, to the electoral lists, through the dialogue with Podemos for their entry into the alliance, as well as with other territorial forces (Compromís, Chunta, Més...). Too much width of fronts.
Right now the Madrid list is one of the most worrying issues. Más Madrid defends that it is the hegemonic territorial force of the Broad Front in the region, with more than 20% of the vote and that it surpasses the PSOE in the regional elections, being the second force and leading the opposition against the PP. With these arguments, he claims that he is treated the same as Comunes, Compromís or Chunta and can lead and design the candidacy.
The problem is that all the parties want positions on that list, because they do not see it as the candidacy of a community but as a national constituency. Comunes demands that Ada Colau run for the capital because she is going to be the candidate for the Presidency of the Government. Barcelona's list is very tight due to downward prospects and they need that relief to fit their pieces and their internal sectors. Más Madrid replies that the former mayor could be the candidate for the general elections "from Barcelona" and that thus the Minister of Health, Mónica García, would lead her region as leader of Más Madrid.
Likewise, IU wants its reference candidate, which is assumed to be Toni Valero, now immersed in primaries, to appear in the capital. Faced with the temptation of being asked to go through Andalusia, IU remembers that it is a federal formation and not Andalusian.
In this game of chairs, Podemos flies over. Her reference is Irene Montero and the purple party demands that she go through Madrid if there is finally an agreement to attend together. The talks are advancing but this issue, without a doubt, would be insurmountable if it does not happen.
Movimiento Sumar could be tempted to also ask that Verónica Barbero run for Madrid, because it is a national party. Running for Pontevedra entails more risks because the seat is in dispute. Yesterday she became the reference candidate for this party in a clandestine primary from which she emerged with 98% support.
The fact is that Más Madrid wants to lead the list with Mónica García at the head of the constituency and that other party colleagues such as Tesh Sidi, Emilio Delgado and Eduardo Fernández Rubiño attend with her.
As can be seen, there are too many names and interests on the table for a constituency in which Sumar won six seats in the 2023 elections. Now the polls give a much lower result. Therefore, starting positions are more expensive than then. A place higher or lower can mean being chosen or being left at the doors.
