We can back down and offer a coalition to Sumar and Esquerra Unida in Andalusia

MadridNine times has the spokesperson for Podemos, Pablo Fernández, repeated the "outstretched hand" of the purple party to go in coalition with Izquierda Unida (IU) and Movimiento Sumar for the Andalusian elections on May 17. And it is that after two resounding falls at the polls in Aragon and Castilla y León – with less than 1% of the votes – Podemos is making a 180-degree turn to the strategy of recent months and, for the first time, is opening up to an alliance with Yolanda Díaz's party in an electoral event. It thus lifts the veto it had imposed on Sumar and which had derailed other understandings: "With all actors," he made clear at a press conference. The offer, which comes four days before the deadline to register coalitions, would not change the number 1 position of Por Andalucía, the leader of IU, Antonio Maíllo.

It is the coalition that IU and Podemos forged in 2022 – who have shared a parliamentary group throughout the legislature – and from which Ione Belarra's party had distanced itself for the elections. For now, the purple party has not set "any prior conditions or requirements": "We need to have conversations and negotiations that today have not yet taken place because we are waiting for a response," added Pablo Fernández.

It was last November when Podemos held the primaries that elected Juan Antonio Delgado as candidate for the elections. Two months earlier, Pablo Fernández had stated that for the Andalusian elections "there will be a ballot" for Podemos. And since then, the purple party has focused on the electoral pre-campaign alone and on the sidelines of other left-wing parties. But all this could remain on paper after they have noted their electoral weakness in the regional elections.

In Aragon and Castilla y León, almost the same scenario was repeated: IU and Sumar went to the polls together and Podemos went on its own. In all cases, they lost votes and the only deputy they obtained was a seat for IU-Sumar in the Aragonese Parliament. Nothing more. The case that the leadership of the purple party has always looked at has been Unidas por Extremadura, a candidacy made up of IU and Podemos that had the external support of Sumar.

"Many people are asking for this agreement. We are doing everything we can to reach an agreement that responds to the desire and longing of the left-wing people," said Pablo Fernández. The one who opened the door was the Podemos candidate, Juan Antonio Delgado, who on Sunday voiced his "outstretched hand." 24 hours later, the state leadership has endorsed "total support" for this offer.

Three days ago, Antonio Maíllo appealed for an "easy solution" to enable a coalition with Podemos. "Nothing needs to be done, they simply have to say they are staying, that they are not leaving," he said to the media. The reality, however, is that in recent months, and especially as the elections approached, it has become evident that both sides had embarked on separate paths. For instance, the lilac leader, Ione Belarra, participated in a Podemos event in Seville alongside her party's candidate, while, at the same time, Por Andalucía and Antonio Maíllo were holding an event on housing in Malaga.