BarcelonaThe unity to the left of the PSOE that Irene de Miguel achieved in Extremadura is on the way to becoming a mirage. Unides per Extremadura is the coalition that brought together Podemos, Esquerra Unida and Aliança Verda under the same umbrella – Sumar did not show up and supported it. And it is also the sum that allowed us to inject optimism into a space that is not going through its best moment following the break between Sumar and Podemos, and at a time when demoscopy predicts a decline at state level. For this reason, the results of Extremadura, in which Irene de Miguel made the unitary coalition grow by three seats, are a small oasis that, for now, is difficult to replicate in other territories that have autonomous elections in sight, such as Andalusia, but also in the whole State, where the unity that Yolanda Díaz wove for the 2023 elections is weakened: Podemos broke with Sumar, and Esquerra Unida is moving further and further away from Diaz
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Why was an agreement reached in Extremadura? It is not the first time that the three parties that formed this coalition have come to an agreement, but in the 2023 elections they already ran together. However, Moviment Sumar, Díaz’s formation, which has no cadres in Extremadura, was not part of this understanding – the second vice-president and Minister of Labor made clear her support for United for Extremadura. That is to say, neither Sumar nor Podemos, a formation to which Irene de Miguel has remained faithful, have not had to sit down at a table to forge a coalition. Of course, during the campaign, De Miguel did demonstrate the tension that remains between the two parties when, in an interview with The voice of Extremaduracalled Yolanda Díaz a “fraud” for the left.
The Andalusian fragmentation
The unity of the Extremadura left, however, will not be repeated in Andalusia – which is scheduled to hold elections in June next year – because this space will be fragmented into three parties. It’s been a few weeks since the Per Andalusia coalition was formed, which brings together Esquerra Unida, Sumar, Iniciativa del Poble Andalús and Verds-Equo. Podemos wanted to be left out, which will be presented alone. In the elections three years ago, Per Andalusia did include the party led by Ione Belarra, but the agreement was sealed in the extremes and in the midst of enormous tensions with the lilacs. In this space to the left of the PSOE, another party, Endavant Andalusia, joins it. In 2022 Per Andalusia won 5 deputies and Andavant Andalusia, 2. A decrease of 10 seats if we take into account that, in the 2018 elections, all these formations were presented together under the umbrella of Andavant Andalusia and with Teresa Rodríguez as leader – then she was still part of Podem. The result was 17 deputies.
It is also difficult for the coalition of Esquerra Unida and Podemos to be re-edited in Castilla y León, where the elections will be held at the end of March. In this territory three years ago the two formations joined forces to try to improve the results of 2019, when they presented themselves separately and only obtained two seats. In coalition, however, they did not improve the representation, but were left with only one deputy, that of Pablo Fernández, spokesperson for the lilacs at state level and whose role the coalition has questioned in the Courts of Castile and Leon. For the March elections, Podemos had shown its intention to run alone, while Esquerra Unida had agreed a coalition with Sumar and Verds-Equo, which had to ratify the bases. Now, after the results of Extremadura – which the leader of Esquerra Unida in this community, Juan Gascón, presented as a “success” –, the party has postponed the consultation until January to make a last attempt to include Podemos in the equation.
In Aragon, President Jorge Azcón (PP) called early elections for February 8 and this has forced the left to start talks to try to form a joint candidacy that has never existed in this territory. Two years ago Podemos lost four deputies and kept one; Esquerra Unida kept the seat it had, and the Aragonese Chunta (CHA) kept the three deputies. The three parties – Sumar has also been added – have begun to explore a unit that, for now, is far from over. The CHA – which was part of Yolanda Díaz’s candidacy for the 2023 elections – this week denounced “cross vetoes” between Podemos and Sumar. Everything points, then, that Extremadura will continue to be the oasis of the unity of the left.
