• Politics Wave of resignations of Podemos in the territories due to the "catastrophe" of the elections
  • 23-J Yolanda Díaz tries to calm the nerves with Sumar and assumes the "challenge" of uniting the left
  • Elections Sumar registers as a political party to "group" within 15 formations and independent figures
  • 28-M Results of the municipal and regional elections 2023

Days go by and no one in Podemos has really given explanations about the causes of the debacle of the regional and municipal elections. The party has been practically erased from the map and has disappeared from parliaments as relevant as Madrid, Valencia or the Canary Islands, however, the national leadership has not yet been accountable to public opinion in an appearance with questions nor has anyone assumed responsibilities in the first person. On the contrary, the purple leaders have chosen to take refuge in silence and divert interest from negotiations with Sumar rather than engage in self-criticism.

The beginning of these talks is what has moved the focus of the results of 28-M, however, in the autonomous communities hardest hit by the "catastrophe" the situation begins to implode. The strong malaise that crosses the party since Sunday night has begun to manifest itself in some reactions demanding responsibilities from the leaders and, above all, has caused that in the last 48 hours a wave of resignations has been unleashed in some of the regions with the worst results.

The national leadership refused to appear before the media on election night and endorsed that paper to the Madrid candidates, Alejandra Jacinto and Roberto Sotomayor -both without representation-. It was she who was in charge of conveying a message in a national code by saying that the electoral results "confirm the need for the unity of the progressive forces with the Podemos engine."

It was the next day when explanations were going to be given at a press conference, but the event of the electoral advance ran over that plan and has never been heard from since. So in the end only Pablo Echenique, in a brief interview on TVE that Monday before the advance, moved a "pre-eliminate" analysis of the party. It basically blames the PSOE because the Government had "lacked more drive and courage when it comes to governing and taking measures", which had fallen "short". Hours later, the secretary general, Ione Belarra, made an appearance at the headquarters without questions to address the advance of the elections to July 23 and announce that the dialogue with Sumar was resumed.

That Monday there was a meeting of the Executive but there is still no date to open the internal debate to the rest of the leadership by convening a State Citizen Council. The negotiation with Sumar has turned everything upside down because the future of Podemos is being played out in a room between now and June 9, when the pact has to be registered to go together. Otherwise, the purples would be forced to go alone and in a state of total crisis.

The lack of self-criticism led Juan Pedro Yllanes, acting vice president of the Balearic Islands, to hit the table. He blamed the "catastrophe" on the leadership and called for the resignation of Belarra, Lilith Verstrynge and Echenique. "It's surprising," he said, quoting the three, "that they haven't already disappeared from the political scene. It is known that they must have interests to actively follow." In that interview on Onda Cero he called on Podemos to "dissolve within Sumar without putting any type of condition and imposition."

It was precisely in the Balearic Islands where yesterday the first steps were taken to assume responsibilities. The regional candidate and general coordinator, Antònia Jover, resigned along with her entire Executive. In order not to generate a vacuum now that elections are coming, the formula to which they have accepted is to put their position at the disposal of the autonomous Citizen Council, which will meet on June 10. But the objective is to open a primary process at the turn of the summer to choose a new direction of Podemos Baleares.

Autonomic deletion

The results on the islands have been very bad. The candidacy has lost half of its votes and has gone from six deputies to one. The Balearic Islands is one of the five governments that the purples lose, along with those of the Valencian Community (where it has achieved zero deputies), Aragon (one), the Canary Islands (zero) and La Rioja (two). The only one it could retain is Navarre.

In the Canary Islands there was another resignation yesterday. The Secretary of Organization, César Merino, resigned from the post. "We must be generous in victory and courageous in defeat," he said in the message in which he announced it. The Canary Islands are a powder keg after two splits and a multitude of problems of resignations and pressures.

On Wednesday 10 councilors of Castilla-La Mancha resigned criticizing the strategy "irrelevant and scaring away for progressive voters" headed by the leader there, José Luis García Gascón.

From Asturias, Cova Tomé demanded on Tuesday a "deep reflection" and asked Verstrynge and Belarra for a meeting of candidates to analyze the "debacle" and "ensure that the right decisions are made."

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