Echenique: "Yolanda Díaz's space is United We Can"

The second vice president, Yolanda Díaz, on April 7 at an event in Madrid.Ricardo Rubio - Europa Press (Europa Press)

One day after the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, avoided referring to United We Can as a future partner of a coalition Executive, the group's parliamentary spokesman in Congress, Pablo Echenique, recalled that Yolanda Díaz's political space is precisely that, United We Can.

The vice president, however, has stated her intention to begin a tour of much of the territory soon to launch a new political project capable of bringing together different formations and thus broaden the group's electoral base.

Asked this Tuesday at a press conference about whether it "bothered" the party that Sánchez ignored Podemos on Monday by stating during an interview on Antena 3 that in the next elections there will only be two options, "or a right-wing coalition government with the extreme right, or a center-left government of the Socialist Party with what Yolanda Díaz's space represents”, Echenique denied the eldest.

“No, Yolanda Díaz's space is United We Can.

I think there is not much to scratch there", defended the deputy, who, with his response, has also limited the scope of Díaz's future platform, a "broad front" project -led by Galician politics-, whose philosophy is officially assumed by all the parties that make up the group, but which does not equally excite each of the actors involved,

The parliamentary spokesman also interpreted that Sánchez's statements have "rectified" the Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños.

“We think that reaching out to the PP is giving wings to Vox.

(...) it is very good that the Prime Minister has made it clear that in Spain there are only two options: either a coalition between [Alberto Núñez] Feijóo and [Santiago] Abascal or a coalition between the PSOE and United We Can”, he assured, modifying the phrase of the president.

Although also on Monday the party founded by Pablo Iglesias wanted to play down the importance of the expression and closed ranks with Díaz —"she is our candidate," said co-spokesperson Isa Serra—, the vice president and Podemos have been showing some tensions in public for months.

The last crisis occurred as a result of the shipment of weapons to the Ukrainian resistance, which the ministers Ione Belarra and Irene Montero rejected against the criteria of the person in charge of Labor, the head of Consumption, Alberto Garzón, and that of Universities, Joan Subirats.

Resume the “listening process”

The vice president, for her part, affirmed this Tuesday that she shared the reflection formulated by Sánchez and has stated her intention to begin her tour of Spain "in a few days" (the so-called "listening process" with different groups) to begin to shape to the new political project.

The UP leader in the Government decided at the end of March to postpone the start of her tour due to the social and economic crisis derived from the conflict in Ukraine.

"I am looking forward to starting this open conversation with Spanish society," said Díaz during an interview on TVE.

“I share with the president that we are going to work, collaborate and give a message of encouragement to our country that is suffering a lot, first from the pandemic and now from a war caused by [Russian leader Vladimir] Putin,” he added.

“Yes, I tell them that as soon as I can, I am going to start this process with great serenity in a society that yearns for winds of change and that, moreover, knows perfectly well that Feijóo is the past,” he stressed.