Nine 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.

Yolanda Díaz has renounced leading the space to the left of the PSOE without a clear successor. After the internal tensions generated by Sumar's personalism in 2023, the strategy for the elections scheduled for 2027 has been turned upside down. The priority is now alliances between parties, and ultimately, the name of the list leader will emerge. For now, Comuns, Més Madrid, Esquerra Unida, and Moviment Sumar have announced they will run in a coalition –without yet specifying how and with whom– with the aim of attracting other formations such as Podem, Compromís, Chunta Aragonesista, or Més per Mallorca. Díaz's step asideclears the way for new leaderships to emerge in a project presented as more of a collective effort. Who could replace her?

The debate about unity to the left of the PSOE has resurfaced strongly in recent days. Gabriel Rufián's call on Wednesday not to split the progressive vote The prospect of running together again in the upcoming general elections resonated this Saturday at another event in Madrid. Comunes, Más Madrid, Izquierda Unida, and Movimiento Sumar staged a demonstration that they will once again contest the elections scheduled for 2027, amid heightened anticipation. because of the Republican's proposalWhile these groups' approach differs from that of the ERC spokesperson in Congress, and there are no realistic expectations of bringing the pro-independence parties on board, the new electoral coalition—still in its very early stages—has emphasized the need to be as many actors as possible within a single candidacy. "We won't close the door to anyone," they stated. This appeal does reflect a desire—currently a pipe dream after the traumatic split at the beginning of the legislature—to attract Podemos. They have also included other parties with which they have previously joined forces, such as Compromís and Més per Mallorca. the Aragonese UnionOf these, only the Valencia fans attended the presentation, in which Yolanda Díaz was notably absent.

The left wing of the PSOE has long been engaged in a renewal process. Sumar, the citizens' movement launched by Yolanda Díaz in April 2023, hastily transformed into an electoral coalition for the June 23rd general election, aiming to unite progressives across Spain. However, nearly three years later, it has lost its initial momentum. Since its initial unity, the Sumar alliance has suffered an irreparable split with Podemos; the defection of part of Compromís; three electoral defeats in Galicia, the Basque Country, and the European elections; and has produced a diverse range of positions on key issues without achieving the desired appeal. Nevertheless, the left is not throwing in the towel and has joined forces to revitalize itself. For months, with particular emphasis in recent weeks, the Sumar Movement, United Left, Más Madrid, and Comunes—the four parties with representation in the cabinet—have been holding talks to carry out a necessary comprehensive update to the alliance in preparation for the upcoming general elections. However, the new horizon is emerging after Podemos has separated from him and Compromís has distanced itself from him, without a defined leadership and with deep doubts about the role that Yolanda Díaz should have.

The poor electoral results that Sumar has suffered since its launch have led parties to the left of the PSOE to begin a period of reflection on their future. While general elections are not yet on the horizon, United Left, one of the coalition's members, is already publicly calling for going "beyond" Sumar and developing an alternative for when the time comes for Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to call the public to the polls. This was stated by the leader of United Left, Antonio Maíllo, in a speech this Saturday before the party's coordinator. who has been setting a profile for months Regarding Yolanda Díaz's party, it's an appeal directed at Sumar, but also at Comunes, Más Madrid, Compromís, and the CHA. It also includes Podemos, although the purple party distances itself from that political space, having formalized its split by joining the mixed group shortly after the general elections.

The nearly 88,000 Aragonese voters who opted for the Sumar ballot in the 2023 general elections will face a dilemma in the upcoming regional elections on February 8th. While on that occasion they were able to vote for a unified candidacy of the forces to the left of the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party), now they will have to choose between three different lists: that of Izquierda Unida (United Left) and Sumar, that of Podemos, and that of the Chunta Aragonesista (CHA) and Verds Equo. Adding to this predicament is the fact that, while competing electorally, the Chunta will remain part of the Sumar group in Congress. Of the three parties, the CHA currently holds the most seats in the Aragonese Parliament: it has three representatives, ahead of Podemos (1 representative) and Izquierda Unida (1 representative). To make matters worse, the CHA candidate is none other than... Jorge Pueyo, member of Congress and, therefore, a member of Sumar in the lower house.

The left-wing unity that Irene de Miguel achieved in Extremadura is on its way to becoming a mirage. Unidas por Extremadura is the coalition that brought together Podemos, Izquierda Unida, and Alianza Verde under the same umbrella – Sumar did not run but offered its support. It is also the alliance that injected optimism into a political space that is not going through its best moment following the breakdown between Sumar and Podemos, and at a time when polls predict a decline for the party at the national level. Therefore, the results in Extremadura, where Irene de Miguel increased the unitary coalition's seats by threeThey are a small oasis that, for now, is difficult to replicate in other regions with upcoming regional elections, such as Andalusia, but also throughout the country, where the unity that Yolanda Díaz forged for the 2023 elections is weakened: Podemos broke with Sumar, and Esquerra Unida also split.

The relationship between the PSOE and Sumar is faltering at one of the most critical moments of the legislature, following the proliferation of alleged corruption and sexual harassment cases that are tarnishing and haunting the Socialists. "This crisis could be the last," acknowledges a member of parliament from Yolanda Díaz's group, who believes that either "changes are made" or the party will enter a "stagnation" in which "there will be no time to react" before the next elections. Sumar, in this sense, continues to demand a "reshuffle" of the government to face the remainder of the legislature, although for now they publicly reject leaving the government. However, there is internal debate, and one of the parties that make up this coalition, United Left, does not rule it out: "All scenarios are open." Sources consulted by ARA explain that there are already voices within this coalition advocating for leaving the government.

The position of the Spanish parties to the left of the PSOE on European rearmament is, theoretically, the same: Sumar and Podemos reject it and, furthermore, support Spain's withdrawal from NATO. However, rather than closing ranks, Podemos is attacking its former partner in order to avoid exerting sufficient pressure within the Cabinet for Spain to disengage from the European Commission's plans. to mobilize 800 billion euros in defense and the Atlantic Alliance's mandate to achieve 2% of GDP spending on security. Sumar balances and speaks sideways as one of the coalition partners, United Left, raises its head to challenge the anti-militarist banner in the face of voices that consider Yolanda Díaz's party to be too soft. This already happened in the crisis that opened within the executive branch over the Interior Ministry's contract for the purchase of ammunition from Israel, and which Moncloa ordered the cancellation as quickly as possible after the United Left sounded the alarm. Now, the party has launched its own security roadmap to prevent the war in Ukraine from acting as a Trojan horse for what they see as the United States' agenda. And it's also doing so from Barcelona.