World
IU Activates Its Primaries and Reopens the Debate With Podemos Over a Unified Ticket
The federation led by Antonio Maíllo will launch its internal calendar this Sunday for the general election while the debate over open primaries in the space to the left of the PSOE gains momentum. In that discussion, Más Madrid rejects that formula and the Comuns avoid taking an official position.
Izquierda Unida will move forward this Sunday with the approval of its primary calendar to choose its standard-bearers ahead of the general elections, in a move that coincides with Podemos’ proposal to organize open primaries to define a unified ticket to the left of the PSOE.
According to eldiario.es, IU federal coordinator Antonio Maíllo explained at a press conference in the Parliament of Andalusia that this mechanism responds to a statutory obligation of the federation. At the same time, he clarified that it does not amount to a decision to run alone, but rather to select the names that IU will then make available to the political space it seeks to join.
The move adds pressure on the partners with whom IU is negotiating the reconfiguration of Sumar: Más Madrid, the Comuns and Movimiento Sumar. The discussion has delayed the definition of a common brand and a ticket for the next general elections.
According to eldiario.es, Maíllo also welcomed Podemos’ shift toward a primary-based method of selection and defended that path as a democratic tool in the event that no agreement is reached between party leaderships. In IU, they maintain that this position is not the result of a tactical calculation, but rather a stance they have been defending for months.
Podemos, for its part, believes that open primaries would make it possible to measure the weight of each actor in the space and break a deadlock that it now sees as difficult to resolve in negotiations between party leaderships. The Spanish outlet noted that, according to IU sources, there are no parallel talks with Podemos, while leaders of the purple party place the Comuns as their direct interlocutor within that bloc.
The positions within the space differ. The Comuns did not set an official position, although their spokesperson Aina Vidal called for the issue to be discussed calmly and at a negotiating table, not through public statements. Más Madrid, by contrast, clearly rejects that scheme: according to eldiario.es, minister Mónica García questioned moving ahead on that path before closing a broader political alliance. In Movimiento Sumar, the proposal was also poorly received and, according to sources cited by that outlet, they fear it could open a logic of internal competition when what is needed is cooperation.
In this context, IU’s activation and Podemos’ push once again move a negotiation that was supposed to be resolved before the summer, but which, according to various sources cited by eldiario.es, could extend until October.
Sources
About this note. Written by El Notero with the assistance of artificial intelligence, based on what was published by the cited outlet. El Notero did not conduct its own reporting on this event.
