Sumar opens to a "common program" and a "contingent alliance" with ERC in the Spanish elections

MadridMoviment Sumar –Yolanda Díaz's party– has set course for its third general assembly in three years to update its roadmap. The conclave, which will be held on July 11, will arrive at a time when the formation is immersed in an internal crisis that has erupted after two significant resignations from the executive that have highlighted a fratricidal war for power. One of the main missions of the extraordinary congress will be to choose the two people who are to lead the party. But the formation will also have to approve the political-organizational report. One of the issues to which the draft refers is the alliance policy that Sumar must weave, and it directly alludes to "the sovereignist left," which in Catalonia is led by Esquerra Republicana. "We will not build a common entity with forces that have different ideas of the State from ours, but we can build a common program and a conjunctural alliance," the document states.

This declaration of intent comes at a time when Gabriel Rufián, the leader of ERC in Madrid, continues his path – almost alone – advocating for a broad front of the left throughout the State. It is a proposal that he does not quite finalize and that he has offered to lead, but which does not have the approval of the Esquerra leadership, which has repeatedly closed the door on it. Precisely next week Oriol Junqueras will meet with the parliamentary group in Congress, as announced by ARA, at a time of tension between Rufián and the republican leadership, but also of discontent within the Madrid parliamentary group with its spokesperson. Sumar's document argues that having different ideas of the State "cannot be the brake" for "building a program that allows us to move forward together" and calls for "mutual recognition" and "enormous generosity" among political actors.

However, the Comuns have noted the impossibility of joining forces with ERC after maintaining contact with Gabriel Rufián's team, as reported by El Periódico and confirmed by ARA, because this same team, according to Comuns sources, referred them to negotiate with the ERC leadership, which rejects this broad front.

"Join some pieces with others"

The document, which can still be amended and modified, also addresses the calls for unity that have been repeated for a long time, but it wants to distance itself from what has been done so far: "We will achieve nothing from the construction of the umpteenth sum of pieces and political apparatuses. [...] The objective cannot be to refound what exists, because what exists is not enough". The formation wants to consolidate itself as an "autonomous political force" and, in parallel, "solidify territorial alliances" and place itself at the service of "larger political projects".

In fact, for months Moviment Sumar has been articulating with Comuns, Esquerra Unida and Més Madrid acoalition for the next general elections. The draft justifies that it must offer "certainties" after "many years of instability". However, it recognizes that unity, although it can help to "maximize" electoral results, is not enough: "No one supports a political project simply because it brings together some pieces with others", it reasons. Between the lines, and without mentioning Podem, the party tries to put a band-aid on the wound in case the purples end up distancing themselves from the candidacy.

Likewise, it makes two demands: that electoral lists be drawn up through "censuses open to citizens" and that there be a "primary system to resolve moments of disagreement". It also claims that this new platform must be compatible with "loose and tactical alliances" that allow "dodging the traps" of the electoral system. An implicit allusion, for example, to Compromís or Chunta Aragonesista. In the case of Comuns, it boasts that its understanding should serve as a "flexible example" for other territories. In fact, Catalonia is one of the few autonomous communities where Moviment Sumar has not deployed an organic structure. The party's spokesperson, precisely, is Ernest Urtasun, Minister of Culture and also a member of Comuns.

"A factory of disappointment and sad passions"

The draft also criticizes the PSOE: "It cannot be the vector that defines the direction of our country because it is a factory of disappointment and sad passions," it says. It also criticizes Pedro Sánchez's hyper-leadership and considers that the socialists are "incapable" of promoting the democratization of the state and the conquest of rights. Finally, Sumar also vehemently defends being part of the Council of Ministers. It believes that, if they were not there, the Spanish government "would be in tatters," and emphasizes that, despite it being a "tense, conflictive" relationship full of "contradictions," being there is "fundamental to guiding policy."