We can backtrack 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 form a coalition with Izquierda Unida (EU) and Movimiento Sumar in the Andalusian elections on May 17. And it is that after two resounding kicks at the polls in Aragón and Castilla y León – with less than 1% of the votes – Podemos is making a 180-degree turn in strategy in recent months and, for the first time, is open to allying 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 the 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 of Por Andalucía, the leader of EU, Antonio Maíllo.

It is the coalition that IU and Podemos wove 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 condition or requirement": "There must be conversations and negotiations that have not yet taken place today because we are waiting for a response," added Pablo Fernández. Sources from EU consulted by ARA assure that at this hour there are no negotiations underway.

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 there would be a Podemos "ballot" in the Andalusian elections. And since then, the purple party has focused on the electoral pre-campaign alone and on the margins of other left-wing parties. But all this could remain in vain after they have noted their electoral weakness in the regional elections.

In Aragón and Castilla y León, almost the same scenario was repeated: EU 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 from EU-Sumar in the Aragonese Parliament. Nothing more. The case that the leadership of the purple party has always looked to 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 candidate for Podem, 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 Podem. "Nothing needs to be done, they simply have to say that they are staying, that they are not leaving," he said to the media. The reality, however, is that in recent months, and increasingly as the elections approached, it has become clear that both sides had embarked on separate paths. For example, the lilac leader, Ione Belarra, participated in a Podem 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.