Colau offers to renounce as candidate and change the name of the Broad Front for unity with Podemos

BarcelonaAda Colau raises the stakes to achieve unity among the parties to the left of the PSOE ahead of the Spanish elections on November 29. The former mayor of Barcelona has offered to step down as the candidate for the Broad Front and, if necessary, change the name of the candidacy to reach an agreement with Podemos. In an interview with TVE, Colau called for pushing negotiations with the purple party but also with ERC to achieve a "single candidacy," and she expressed her conviction that it is still "possible," even though the deadline for submitting coalitions for the elections expires in 48 hours.

"Everything can be discussed. I have been put forward as a candidate and, if I am useful, I will do it with great enthusiasm. But if more parties join beyond that and another person generates more consensus, go ahead, I would step aside," she said. "And if the problem is the name of the formation, let it be changed," she added, noting that the most important thing is unity, the program, and that "no left-wing vote is lost" in a context of the growth of the far-right. "I am open to discussing names, candidacies, and list numbers, obviously with the consensus of all forces and without impositions," she summarized. "No crossed vetos or red lines," she stressed.

The former mayor insisted that "conversations remain open" and are "very advanced" with "various parties across the State," without providing further details. "I hope they can move forward with Podemos," she added. In this sense, she asked for "full respect" for the open primaries of Podemos, but said that this is not incompatible with joining forces with the Broad Front, and stated: "I cannot conceive of a single candidacy that does not include Irene Montero, of course she has to be there".

She also did not see the agreement between the purple party and Esquerra as an impediment to unity, which she described as a "disappointment" but also "legitimate." And she responded to the Republicans' arguments against a new pact by saying that they should not "dilute themselves or lose their acronyms." "There are ways to create joint candidacies in which acronyms can be maintained," she insisted. In recent hours, the loss of the acronyms has been the party's argument for rejecting an electoral agreement with the Comuns, just as Gabriel Rufián demands.

Despite her calls, Colau said that she is "realistic" and admitted that it is "complicated" to close an agreement in just two days, before the Friday deadline. At the same time, however, she appealed to "past experiences" and pacts that were possible in "a few hours." In the Spanish elections three years ago, Sumar reached an agreement with Podemos at the last minute. The condition, however, was that Irene Montero remained off the candidacy.