The general secretary of Podemos, Ione Belarra, has announced the opening of a process of “collective reflection and debate” in the party to “redefine” the relationship of the purples with Yolanda Díaz, as well as to defend his “political autonomy” within the Sumar coalition. Goals that will be expressed in writing in a new political document that will serve as a “roadmap” for training to face the coming years. The ultimate objective, he stressed, is to “strengthen Podemos politically and organizationally.”
This message encourages the intention to We can to compete for Díaz the hegemony lost within the space of the alternative left to the PSOE to recover a leading role. Of course, it is as a declaration of rebellion against playing a secondary role, as Sumar is offering in Congress, or being left out of the future coalition government, as it is feared will happen. “If you are willing to fight, so are we,” proclaimed Belarra, in a phrase that summarizes the challenge that Podemos launched this Saturday in an event held at the Fernando de Rojas theater, in the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid, before 500 people and hundreds more who have been left unable to enter.
The general secretary household has ruled that the political objectives that the party had set when Yolanda Díaz was entrusted as a candidate “have not been met.” Furthermore, he has accused the leader of Sumar of having “subjected” her formation to a process “that cannot be called unity” and that is “unfair”, leading to a loss of votes and seats in space. “Agreements under these conditions cannot be repeated,” she concluded.
Thus, Belarra has justified that Podemos’s obligation is to “take care” of its “way of doing politics”, which she has summarized as “that you do not put yourself in profile and that you do not let colleagues fall.” Two shots against Díaz for having renounced the belligerence and “noise” of Podemos when it came to acting politically and for having sacrificed Irene Montero from the electoral lists.
Belarra has expressed Podemos’s vocation to have “autonomy as a political force” and “ability to make decisions” within Sumar. So far from resigning itself to playing a secondary role or being a subsidiary force, Podemos poses the challenge of resisting and re-emerging with a “strengthening” of the organization in all its areas. To achieve this, Belarra has called on its militants to participate in a process of “collective reflection and debate” that begins now. This Saturday the political document of the national leadership that aims to serve as a “road map” will be made public. The culmination will take place on November 4th in a kind of political convention. In between, there will be different milestones in which leaders and activists will be able to “debate” and “amend” the line drawn and, ultimately, there will be a vote to endorse it. This new document will define the framework of the relationship with Sumar and will replace the still current document that elevated Díaz as its electoral candidate.