The problem of the left is not (only) division

The division of the left is as old as the left itself. Ideological purism, doctrinal rigidity, and poor tactical ability, sometimes compounded by a personalism they theoretically reject, are characteristics historically associated with the groups and factions that have positioned themselves to the left of the "official" left. These conditions often lead them, almost inexorably, to dissent and fragmentation, ultimately resulting in political impotence inversely proportional to the ideological virtue they preach.

Lately, given the electoral and polling advance of the far right, the issue has resurfaced, from a perspective that, in my opinion, is flawed: the electoral unity of the forces to the left of the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) is not what can prevent the right wing's electoral victory. It might, admittedly, gain a few more seats, but to defeat the far right, what is needed is to increase the left-wing vote. Or to put it another way: what's at stake is the very capacity of the left to capture and represent social discontent.

Let's look at Podemos, which has just lost its parliamentary representation in Castile and León with only 0.74% of the vote. The documentary premiered ten years ago. Policy, instruction manualA film (directed by Fernando León de Aranoa and produced by Jaume Roures) made from a position of close, if not outright ideological, alignment with the political project born from the 15M protest movement, which was then clearly on the rise. The feature film followed—with camera access as generous as it was unusual to its internal meetings—the meteoric rise of Podemos, from its founding assembly in Madrid's Vistalegre square in October 2014 to the general elections of December 2015, when the new political force and its allies, Compromiso-Podemos in the Valencian Community and Marea in Galicia, achieved a historic result of 69 seats in Congress. The alliance with left-wing forces from the Basque and indigenous regions allowed Podemos to garner more than five million votes across Spain, almost 20% of the total. It was also the most voted-for party in Catalonia and the Basque Country. And it broke the imperfect two-party system of PP-PSOE that had characterized the Spanish Parliament until then.

One of the most surprising things about the aforementioned film was the absence of the "masses" that the party claimed to represent—with a "national-popular" proposal imported from Latin America by Pablo Iglesias and Íñigo Errejón from their university offices—and, instead, the focus on the masses. Ten years later, and after a stint in government that ended badly, Podemos has lost practically all the strength and appeal it once possessed. The latest blow was dealt by MEP Irene Montero. At a party event where she was boasting about the regularization of immigrants approved by the Sánchez government, and in an aggressive but no less convincing tone, she railed against the idea spread by the right that the regularization had been carried out "to rig the election results"And then he would make a call, which I leave in the original syntax: "I want to ask migrants and people of color to please not leave us alone with all this work. And, of course, we want them to vote. Of course we do. We've gotten papers. Regularization now. And now let's go for citizenship or change the law so they can vote. Absolutely. I hope for replacement theory. I hope we can hide fascists and racists in this country with migrants, with working people. Of course I want there to be replacement: replacement of fascists, replacement of racists, replacement of freeloaders! And that we can do it with the working people of this country, whatever their skin color may be, whether they're Chinese, Black, Brown, with all of them, comrades, the working people of this country.".

One could argue that it is a proclamation made in the context of a rally, but I think we would be wrong to diminish its meaning: it is a very revealing text, which translates the renunciation of convincing the people of the country (who are also working people) that they have to vote for the left, replacing it with the, but that it is good by nature, within a conception that seems rather Rousseauian (perhaps there are not among them conservative, sexist or very religious people who would never vote for Podemos?).