The agreement between Podemos Euskadi and Sumar does not come and, a month after the initial deadline they had given themselves to reach an agreement, the two parties are already thinking about facing the electoral pre-campaign separately. This has been recognized by the general coordinator of the purple formation, Pilar Garrido, and this has been admitted by all the sources consulted, who see it as very difficult to close an alliance in the coming days.
The purple formation initially set Christmas as the deadline to reach an electoral agreement to participate in the Basque elections this spring together with Sumar, Ezker Anitza-IU and Equo-Berdeak. As is known, the pact did not come and, in fact, the positions only moved away. From there, from the purple formation they set the month of January as a new deadline, although they did not make it explicit publicly, and, at this moment, they point to this week as the limit to reach an agreement.
In fact, the general coordinator of Podemos Euskadi, Pilar Garrido, has set her sights on the next screen and has already talked about starting to campaign (in this case, pre-campaign) with her own candidates. “People are tired of hearing us talk about things that are not interesting; Podemos Euskadi starts campaigning with its candidates, and whatever has to come, will come,” she said last night in an interview on Radio Euskadi.
The purple formation is currently facing the internal process to name Miren Gorrotxategi as a candidate, spokesperson in the Basque Parliament and head of the list four years ago. It is a mere procedure, since it is the only plank in contention. From there, Podemos Euskadi does not have any other hypothesis other than running with Gorrotxategi as a candidate.
On the contrary, Sumar Mugimendua, the brand of Yolanda Díaz's training in Euskadi, does not view this commitment favorably and considers that Basque society demands a "renewal in leadership" and "a generational renewal." Her bet is the Bilbao psychologist and activist Alba García, a worker on Podemos' payroll until it became public that she would be Sumar's bet. Furthermore, from this training they point out that there are important differences regarding programmatic and strategic issues.
Although there is still no date for the elections to the Basque Parliament next spring, all parties with parliamentary representation are already immersed in the pre-campaign. In fact, the formation that controls the electoral times, the PNV, launched the pre-campaign this past weekend, with the official designation of its candidate, Imanol Pradales, in a public event in Durango packed with militants.
The most likely thing is that the elections will take place on April 21, so that the Lehendakari, Iñigo Urkullu, would announce the electoral call 54 days before, at the end of February, with the dissolution of the Basque Chamber.
Time is running out for Podemos and Sumar, who have been focused on a negotiation for more than two months that does not offer results. At first, the poor electoral prospects suggested that an agreement would be possible, since, if they participated separately, they could be left out of the Basque Parliament. However, internal factors, linked to the dynamics of these formations in the Basque Country, and external factors, related to the abyss that today separates them in the whole of Spain, are making the agreement impossible.
