Vetoes, transfers and collateral damage: all the casualties of Yolanda Díaz in Sumar

The express landing of Yolanda Díaz's project for the general elections of 23-J has left a trail of victims, victims, direct or collateral of the earthquake that the anticipated elections have caused in the left, already severely hit on 28-M. Some of Yolanda Díaz's unconditional allies, from Alberto Garzón to Jaume Asens or Antón Gómez Reino, including leaders who attended the launch of her candidacy, in Magariños, such as Juantxo López de Uralde, are seen today outside the photo. In another category are political leaders such as the Minister of Equality, Irene Montero, an enemy with Díaz long before, and already definitively removed from the lists of Sumar al 23-J, while she waits for a new opportunity to return to the fore..

The bad electoral expectations have significantly narrowed the playing field, the multiplicity of actors has forced them to crowd together, and the struggles of the ecosystem of each organization have done the rest.. Where before they lived —and ate— four forces (Podemos, IU, the commons and Alianza Verde), today there must be space and resources for a fortnight, with the polls against. It was inevitable that the majority of those who have been deputies in the XIV legislature would have to resign to revalidate the seat, but the movements have surprised even among some of those who bet on Díaz from the beginning, and this is how different leaders and former leaders of the political space.

Ernest Urtasun, Sumar's spokesman in the campaign, recognized last week the significant number of “cessions” registered, but between different forces and territories aligned with Díaz they went further: “Where there has been negotiation is in the places where they left far away “. In the rest, they abound, they have had to swallow several toads, and in some cases variables have been mixed, such as the dynamics of their organizations, which have ended up tipping the balance against figures who bet everything on the card Add.

This is the case of IU, which has been relegated to ninth place by Madrid, very difficult to achieve, when its two main figures, Alberto Garzón and Enrique Santiago, have been strong supporters and defenders of the second vice president's project. For months, the two tried to lower the tone despite the darts of Podemos, the two decidedly bet on coming together with Sumar. The first renounced going on lists, in what was interpreted as a way of marking the way for Montero; the second even beat the pulse of the one who was to be the heir to Garzón's position on the Madrid lists, the MEP and spokesperson for the United Left Sira Rego, who ended up ruling out her presence in the candidacy. Santiago, another of Díaz's great supporters, has been included in the list by Córdoba, and, in Andalusia, IU has only three starting positions, although it is its main stronghold.

Antón Gómez Reino will not be there either, very close to the vice president. It will be Marta Lois who will occupy the starting position for A Coruña, and not the veteran deputy and former leader of Podemos. And until the last minute, the place for Txema Guijarro, general secretary of the parliamentary group and former member of the purple executive, has not been secured. After a hard battle, including a collection of signatures against him, supported by a former secretary general of Podemos, Guijarro has saved the furniture. It has been the central piece of the parliamentary machinery, left the leadership of Podemos without noise and tried to grease a group that was almost impossible to manage. His commitment to Díaz, as in all previous cases, immediately generated misgivings among the purple. In this case, the impact of accepting their presence is received by Compromís.

Aina Vidal, deputy spokesperson in Congress, has managed to prevail over Jaume Asens, president of the group this legislature, who aspired to be the head of the commons list. He also distanced himself from Podemos and bet heavily on Díaz. The formation of Ada Colau, whose leader resigned from going on the lists despite having lost the option to revalidate the Mayor's Office of Barcelona, has also had to swallow the toad of including in its lists, as number four, the secretary of the Organization of Podemos. Lilith Verstrynge is in the hard core of Montero and Belarra, once iron allies of the Catalan confluence in which Podem participates.

For his part, Juantxo López de Uralde (Green Alliance) has seen the option of going as head of the list for Álava pass before his eyes, a position that Podemos was finally awarded, and which is in contention, but with few chances of success today. Uralde attended Díaz's act in Magariños, but also positioned himself alongside Podemos in relation to the vetoes of its leaders. The purple ones placed him swimming and putting away his clothes, and the pressure from Equo —the party from which Uralde comes— to position himself as a reference force for environmentalism ended up tipping the scales against him.

Más Madrid does not come off well either, with only one starting position for its candidates —the other, for Íñigo Errejón, enters his quota, although the former purple leader is a member of Más País—. Mónica García's formation boasted of having four positions in Madrid, and of her affinity with number six and Díaz's economic guru, Carlos Martín, who symbolically closed his lists on 28-M, as achievements after the negotiation. Today they acknowledge that their militants “would have liked to see our candidates higher up on the lists”, but they justify themselves by stating that their priority was “to reach an agreement as soon as possible”..

And this, among his unconditional detractors. Even between two of the Podemos territories that have supported Díaz the most, Euskadi and Navarra, they have had to swallow two important toads: the first, the appointment of Lander Martínez, a close collaborator of Díaz and former purple secretary general identified with errejonismo, as number one for Bizkaia. Martínez is in Sumar's quota, but the current management does not see it favorably, and warns that the bases do not either.

The leader José Manuel de Pablos Bajo, a member of the Citizen Council in Euskadi, was the clearest against this designation from his profile on Twitter: “In an unexpected turn of events in Euskadi, the errejonismo that resigned for losing a primary may return to Euskadi by the hand of Yolanda Díaz without the need to have submitted to primaries”, wrote.

In an unexpected turn of events in #Euskadi, the errejonismo who resigned after losing a primary can return to the Basque Country at the hands of @Yolanda_Diaz_ without having to appear in a primary.

To complete this grotesque, Edu Maura in 3…. 2… 1…

— J.M. de Pablos Bajo (@JM_dePablosBajo) June 14, 2023

Nor is it easy for the leadership of Podemos in Navarra to digest the presence of MEP Idoia Villanueva as head of the list. A region that from the beginning opted to run with Díaz, and that assumed the option of having to campaign for Belarra, now they have to do it for a member of their hard core, but without the excuse that she is the home secretary general herself. , whose right to go on the lists has not been in question.

And the list of those ousted in the process of drawing up the list grows if one takes into account those who acted as a nemesis of Díaz's project, or were too close to the leadership of Belarra, from Pablo Echenique to Ángela Rodríguez Pam, passing through Rafa Mayoral. Díaz has had to put together his puzzle in record time, and the list of casualties is also record, especially among his own ranks.