Open primaries: the condition of Podemos to guarantee a substantial weight in the Sumar lists

If Yolanda Díaz and Podemos finally reach an agreement for Ione Belarra's party to form part of Sumar —the new electoral platform promoted by the Vice President of the Government for the generals—, one of the key battles will be how to prepare the candidacies.

Doing so through "open primaries" as demanded by Podemos —and as its founder and predecessor of Díaz in the second vice presidency, Pablo Iglesias, has once again claimed this Monday— would imply, predictably, that Belarra's party would guarantee itself a very substantial weight in the lists, because their militancy, the majority, would take over the vote.

Something that could leave the candidates of the rest of the small parties that intend to join Sumar relegated.

Díaz has not yet ruled on whether or not she will accept that formula.

“We can” does not say that those registered from all parties vote, but rather, let's hold open primaries in which anyone can register even if they are not going to vote for us to participate.

It is difficult to be so generous, ”Iglesias defended late Monday on Cadena SER.

In an article published this Monday on

The former vice president explains that, "in the past", when the different parties integrated in United We Can began to draw up the joint list of this coalition, the procedure was as follows: each one held its own primaries "and then an agreement was negotiated". , in the offices, to locate the candidates of each formation in the joint list and that all would be more or less satisfied.

“The agreement was not easy, but it was possible because everyone shared, broadly speaking, what was the weight of each force.

Nobody doubted, for example, that Podemos was the majority force in the coalition, in the same way that nobody doubted in Catalonia that Ada Colau's party was the largest there compared to Podem, ICV and EUiA”, points out Iglesias.

Repeating that procedure now to make the Add lists is, however,

“Enormously difficult, because it is obvious that the organizations do not share criteria regarding the weight of each one”, he emphasizes.

For this reason, Podemos defends that on this occasion there is no subsequent negotiation in the offices, but theoretically a primaries with a new census in which the militants of all parties will be integrated, including Sumar supporters and all citizens interested in participating — although the formation has not yet specified these details - and that it directly chose the members of the candidacies.

This formula is the only one that ensures that, "in the event that the parties do not reach an agreement on what each one weighs, unity is guaranteed," writes the former leader of Podemos in a text published in line with Yolanda's last appeal Díaz to the unit last Sunday.

Iglesias qualifies that, "in his opinion", these votes must "guarantee the representation of minorities and make it easier for anyone to participate, as in Italy and other countries."

More information

Pablo Iglesias demands open primaries from Díaz to define a unitary candidacy around Sumar

In the last week, Podemos has urged Díaz to close a minimum pact that includes the organization of these primaries, as a condition to attend the launch of his candidacy (which will foreseeably take place on April 2).

Belarra's party fears that the delay in the negotiations - Sumar is not expected to close an agreement until after the municipal and regional elections in May - is just a ploy to weaken Podemos compared to other minor parties and with those who compete on the 28th -M —More Madrid, Compromís, the Chunta Aragonesista or Proyecto Drago in the Canary Islands, among others—, since the forecasts for these elections are uncertain and Podemos could lose regional power and municipal presence.

Several political forces consulted in the area of ​​Sumar find it difficult to assume this condition of Podemos on the open primaries, and there are those who believe that the great stumbling block can be found in the preparation of this new census.

Others point out that this movement is nothing more than a way of tensing the negotiations.

Today, Podemos is the largest organization and in any case it has much more structure than Sumar, still under construction.

Iglesias already offered joint primaries to Izquierda Unida in 2014, and did it again with Mónica García, candidate for Más Madrid, for the 2021 regional elections. Neither in one case nor in the other, did the formations pick up the gauntlet.

However, at the beginning of this year, Alberto Garzón, federal coordinator of the IU, proposed opening a table of "proportional" parties and primaries, with a specific census and by circumscriptions, to design the candidacies, although party sources affirm that this has not yet been done. has made progress in that direction.

Subscribe to continue reading

Read without limits

Keep reading

I'm already a subscriber