Mónica García opens up to leading the new Broad Front: "I am willing to do whatever is necessary"

MadridWith the consummation of the calling of the general elections on November 29th, the parties of the old Sumar –recently rebranded and reconfigured as Broad Front– must choose their candidate against the clock. Comuns, United Left, Més Madrid, and Moviment Sumar have been working for months to weave the new coalition that is to be presented in the elections, but they still lack a key piece: the head of the list. The rumors have been firing up for days and now sources in the know assure behind the scenes that the white smoke will “undoubtedly” appear this week.

One of the names that has been sounding strongly in the last few hours is that of Mónica García, Minister of Health and leader of Més Madrid. “I am willing to do whatever is necessary to stop the far-right and the speculators, but it does not depend on me, it depends on a consensus and a space that we have created with great affection, hard work, and respect,” she said in an interview with the Cadena SER. And she wanted to make it clear that she wants to “respect the decision-making space and the timing” of the future coalition.

Hours later, the four parties appeared together in a press conference and both she and Ernest Urtasun, Minister of Culture and one of the visible faces of the Comuns in Madrid, dedicated themselves to kicking the ball out of play despite the insistence of the journalists. “I will resort to a classic of Spanish cinema: I am at the disposal of what my political organizations decide and I will be in the battle where my political organizations decide,” replied Ernest Urtasun.

For her part, Mónica García, who three months ago was appointed as Més Madrid's candidate for the 2027 regional elections, stressed that decisions will have to be taken “collectively” in the “appropriate places” among all the parties: “I will not speak from my individuality, desire or need, I will speak from the need and desire of the political organizations,” she said. “We will place ourselves where we are most useful to the organization and for the desire to be able to renew a progressive government,” she insisted. Also invited to the meeting held by the four parties were Compromís, Chunta Aragonesista and MÉS per Mallorca, three parties that are part of the parliamentary group, but none of them attended.

Another of the names that has been mentioned for some time is that of Pablo Bustinduy, Minister of Social Rights and Agenda 2030, especially after his vehement defense of the second housing decree last Friday at the plenary session of Congress. However, at all times he has directly refused to run to head the candidacy. Ernest Urtasun has limited himself to praising that he is a "great asset" to his political space of which they are "very proud". In recent days, also a comeback operation for Ada Colau has been activated, who showed herself willing to return to institutional politics if there is a "truly broad left-wing front". Regarding Gabriel Rufián, who is "reflecting" on what his role should be on November 29th, Ernest Urtasun has argued that they are articulating "the alternative left in Spain" and has acknowledged that the sovereignist parties will also be "indispensable" to renew the progressive government.

Podem reiterates the proposal to hold primaries

In parallel, Podemos has returned to put on the table its own roadmap: to hold primaries to choose who leads the space to the left of the PSOE. The candidate of the purples, Irene Montero, has proposed to the rest of the parties that the head of the list be chosen in open primaries on October 14 and 15: “Since there is no time to lose, we offer open primaries where everyone can vote to choose among all this candidacy of the social majority”, she justified. The deadline to register coalitions is Friday the 16th.

For now, however, the Broad Front is avoiding having a “debate through the media” regarding this proposal: “If anyone wants to make a proposal, there is a chair available to come and make the proposals they consider appropriate,” replied Ernest Urtasun. Off the record, sources from Moviment Sumar reiterate that Podemos “has the door open,” but avoid specifying the lines of communication between the two spaces. Even so, they criticize that “restricting and circumscribing” alliances to a question of names is “reductionist”.