Key day in Compromís' possible exit from Sumar

ValenciaThe long-running debate over the possible withdrawal of Compromís from the Sumar parliamentary group will reach another crucial day this Monday. Furthermore, the largest party in the coalition and the one most in favor of ceasing its collaboration with the party led by Spanish Vice President Yolanda Díaz will ask its national council members if they support the split. If the outcome is clear, it could accelerate a resolution that, in turn, could fracture Compromís.

The vote comes two weeks after the Valencianists held an executive committee that resulted in a postponement of the decision and the drafting of a series of requirements that Sumar must meet if they wish to remain in the group. Specifically, they are demanding freedom of vote, the right to participate in control sessions to question the Spanish government, and autonomy to negotiate with the state executive and other parliamentary groups. They are also calling for a reform of the parliamentary group's internal functioning to make it "genuinely confederal and plurinational."

Discontent within Compromís, and especially its majority party, the pro-independence Més, erupted when Sumar failed to include Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on the list of those to appear before the upcoming commission on the DANA (National Anti-Dumping Act) in the Congress of Deputies, as the Valencianists had requested. The coalition was also formed by a coalition government that agreed with Sumar that Compromís would have the final say on issues affecting the Valencian Country.

The debate over Sumar's exit could also fracture the coalition, given that Més advocates leaving Sumar, while the eco-socialist Iniciativa del Poble Valencià (Initiative of the Valencian People)—the party of the former vice president, Verds-Equo, who are in the minority—initially wanted to remain but have now reportedly opted to break away.

The crossroads faced by Compromís comes after two weeks of negotiations that have failed to resolve the conflict. Més claims that Sumar is unclear about whether it accepts the Valencianists' demands. In contrast, Iniciativa maintains that there is an agreement to give them greater visibility and autonomy. They also assert that, given the current crisis in the Spanish government over alleged corruption cases surrounding former PSOE organizing secretaries Santos Cerdán and José Luis Ábalos, now is not the time to focus on Sumar's internal situation, but rather to concentrate on measures against the shady dealings that have implicated the Socialists. Among the proposals they put forward are a constitutional reform to introduce transparency as a fundamental right, the creation of a Ministry of Transparency, Good Governance, and Public Integrity not managed by the PSOE, and formulas for hybridization—representatives from different parties—within the various ministries to increase control.

Given the internal disagreements within Compromís, a possible solution to the conflict could be for only Més representative Àgueda Micó to leave Sumar, while Iniciativa representative Alberto Ibáñez would remain in the parliamentary group. However, this is a very dangerous scenario because it could deepen the coalition's already long-standing rifts and widen its differences.