"As a republican, I have always believed in the renewal of representatives: it is healthy for political projects and also for democracy." This is how the Minister of Consumption and IU federal coordinator, Alberto Garzón, explains the decision not to repeat as a candidate in the general elections of July 23. For now, he will remain at the head of the party and participate in Yolanda Díaz's campaign for the presidency, supporting Sumar, the platform for which he expressly calls for a renewal of faces.
Garzón communicated his decision to the management of IU and to Díaz on Tuesday, and remarked that the new stage promoted by Sumar needs new profiles. "It is a very thoughtful decision that aspires to promote the renewal of the public faces that represent this necessary project", explains Garzón through a statement shared on social networks. Alberto Garzón (Logronyo, 1985), economist and key figure of the 15-M, has been on the political front line for twelve years and believes that "now that we are entering a new phase is a great time to let other colleagues contribute their energies and knowledge”.
Committed from the beginning to Sumar's stage, Garzón maintains an interpretation of Díaz's initiative opposed to Podem's reading. The minister explained last month, during his political presentation before the IU executive, that the civil and criminal lashing suffered by Unides Podemos and, above all, by the purple leaders does not exhaust the explanation for the loss of allies and electoral support, and believes that Sumar must be the meeting place for all the political families that have been moving away from the purple party and IU.
Rumors about his decision to leave institutional politics at the end of this legislature have been circulating for weeks, although the anticipated dissolution of the Courts announced by President Pedro Sánchez on Monday has accelerated the deadlines.
Garzón began his political activity during 15-M, a campaign in which he was one of the protagonists. The 15-M had a strong impact on IU, where he was active, and the role of critical economist that Garzón had developed in the digital sphere and his prominence in the camp of Sol were worth him, with 26 years just completed , head the IU list for Málaga and become the youngest member of parliament. A little over a year later, in January 2013, he was elected a member of the Federal Executive Commission of IU.
In 2016 he was elected coordinator of IU and almost simultaneously reached an agreement with Pablo Iglesias so that Podemos and IU would appear together in the electoral repeat of June 2016. After the birth of the Unides Podem coalition, Garzón and Iglesias agreed a road map for the creation of a single political subject that integrated the electoral appeal of Podemos and the strong territorial implantation of IU, a plan that was postponed due to the turbulent second assembly of Podemos, held in February 2017 in Vistalegre, and the subsequent rebellion of the PSOE grassroots against its leadership, with the return of Pedro Sánchez to the general secretary in May of this year. And the fusion never got to unfold.
When Podemos entered a crisis in January 2019 - due to the departure of Íñigo Errejón and the rebellion of several territorial coordinators - Alberto Garzón, Enrique Santiago, Jaume Asens and Yolanda Díaz were the key public supports of Iglesias to avert disaster in the April general election. During the negotiation of the coalition Government, in November 2019, Iglesias removed five ministerial portfolios for the confederal space of Unides Podemos, which made Garzón Minister of Consumption.
