The new Sumar presents itself as the "clean" alternative to the PSOE: "It must assume responsibilities"

BarcelonaThe left-wing front that began in February in Madrid has made a stop this Saturday in Barcelona. Comuns, Més Madrid, Esquerra Unida and Moviment Sumar have once again shared a stage to defend a common project for the upcoming general elections at a time when Gabriel Rufián's proposal, which calls for uniting state and sovereignist left-wing forces, continues to resonate. Under the slogan A step forward, the promoters of this refoundation of what was Sumar in 2023 have presented themselves as the alternative to the PSOE at a time when alleged corruption cases surround the socialists and, especially, the circle of the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez. In this regard, the Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, has demanded that the PSOE make a move: "Responsibilities must be assumed, faces must be shown, and brave decisions must be made."

Throughout this week, Sumar, the minority partner in the Spanish government, has demanded explanations from the PSOE after Zapatero's indictment and the police entry into the socialists' headquarters on Ferraz street. For Urtasun, Pedro Sánchez's appearance in Congress to explain the latest judicial cases surrounding his party is a "first step," but he believes the socialists must go further: "The information that is emerging is serious, it deserves a response and decisive action." And in this regard, he added: "We demand that the PSOE's headquarters no longer be a burden to the country's progressive space."

For now, Sumar's response to the judicial cases that are targeting the PSOE is to demand that Pedro Sánchez make a move to cut short this entire judicial siege, but they are not considering leaving the coalition government. In fact, the coordinator of Moviment Sumar, Lara Hernández, has asked the Spanish president to "take care of the progressive government" to prevent all of this from becoming a springboard for the right and far-right to reach the Spanish government. The Minister of Consumption, Pablo Bustinduy, has joined in, advocating for strengthening progressive policies from the state executive and, in this regard, has promised to bring the rent extension decree back to Congress "as soon as possible." The general coordinator of Esquerra Unida, Antonio Maíllo, for his part, has demanded a "democratic reform of the State" from the PSOE so that there are neither "sewers nor Villarejos."

In this regard, all the representatives of this left-wing front who spoke this morning from Barcelona have repeated a premise: "Zero corruption exists". In fact, they have presented their space as an example. "We are the clean left, the brave left," argued Bustinduy, who added: "Cursed be the corrupt for betraying the popular will". However, the Minister of Health and next candidate for Més Madrid to the Community of Madrid, Mónica García, admitted that they are aware that there is a political operation underway to end the coalition government: "But that is no excuse. There are unacceptable behaviors for the left, we are not the same as them".

A left-wing front

Given all this, the defenders of this broad left-wing front have presented it as essential to curb the rise of the right and far-right. This was defended by the Comuns' candidate for mayor in Barcelona, Gerardo Pisarello, who opened the event: "We are a sister force to build bridges with left-wing forces and to defend the working class".

The left-wing front claimed by the heirs of Sumar from 2023, the coalition led by Yolanda Díaz in the general elections three years ago, does not yet have a visible face. Its promoters presented themselves in February at an event in Madrid, and their objective, they said at the time, is to build a broad project to run in the 2027 general elections and leave the choice of candidate until the end. Yolanda Díaz was not at the event three months ago, nor was she in Barcelona this Saturday. The second vice-president and Minister of Labour had already announced a few days after the relaunch of Sumar that she would not run as a candidate again.

Podem is the great absentee in the early stages of this embryo of the new Sumar. The purple party has distanced itself from it from the outset and has approached the proposal launched by ERC spokesperson Gabriel Rufián, who, in fact, shared a stage at an event in Barcelona with Irene Montero on April 9, where they advocated joining forces to run in the next general elections. ERC, however, continues to reject the proposal that Rufián continues to defend publicly. For now, the project of the new Sumar and what Rufián defends have not converged, although the promoters of the broad front presented this Saturday in Barcelona have urged the republican leader to specify his proposal to discuss it.