The Mónica Oltra effect can boost the left-wing alliance

ValenciaCreate a candidacy that "overflows" Compromís and includes Esquerra Unida, Podem and Sumar. This was the condition set by Mónica Oltra to return to the political front line and that her partners from Més —the coalition's sovereignist formation— have accepted, as the former vice-president of the Generalitat Valenciana's closest collaborators explained to ARA. Once the hurdle was overcome, the movements were unleashed and on Saturday Oltra announced that she accepted the offer to be the candidate for the Valencia City Council. A decision that confirmed her determination not to wait for her judicial situation to be resolved. "The times will no longer be marked by a court," the same sources had already told ARA last Septemberannounced last September by the same sources.

Although the negotiations have not started, the pact with Esquerra Unida (EU) is taken for granted since the two formations have been holding conversations for months. They were already close to it in the previous legislature, when the agreement was not reached due to the Valencianists' refusal to replicate the alliance at the autonomous level, a circumstance that led EU to opt for the other offer it had on the table, which was to re-establish the understanding with Podem, which did offer it a pact in the main cities and in the Courts. The white smoke is also expected to be easy with Sumar, taking into account Compromís's good relationship with the formation still led by Yolanda Díaz. The party of the second vice-president and Minister of Labour had already proposed to Oltra that she lead her candidacy in the 2024 European elections, that is, two years after the Valencian politician's resignation. As is known, the biggest obstacle to overcome is Podem, but even this party seems to be coming around. On Saturday, the autonomous coordinator of the purple formation, María Teresa Pérez, called on progressive formations to "listen more to the street" and less to themselves.

If a united candidacy is achieved in Valencia, the next step could be to repeat the formula at the regional level, a debate in which Oltra's team states they do not want to participate because the former vice-president intends to focus on the municipal level. However, they do admit their desire for the Valencian formula to "pave the way for the entire State" and serve as an "example". "We must attract the electorate that is demotivated or does not identify with any party," they repeat. Similar arguments to those used by ERC spokesperson in Madrid, Gabriel Rufián, in his crusade to achieve a united left-wing candidacy for the next Spanish elections.

Beyond not repeating stages, among the reasons that have led Oltra to choose the local level is her belief that the municipal sphere can become a counter-power to the global ultraconservative movement led by US President Donald Trump. In this regard, she cites the example of cities like New York, with its mayor, Zohran Mamdani, the opposition in Minneapolis to the migratory police of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE), or the victory of progressive candidates in major French cities such as Paris, Lyon, or Marseille. On Saturday, the former Valencian vice-president announced her return in front of a panel that displayed the slogan The impetus of the left. It will be necessary to wait a few more months to see if the possible united candidacy in Valencia becomes or not the stimulus that its promoters intend it to be.