Add and We Can They are headed for a new clash ahead of the next electoral event after the Galician elections: the elections in the Basque Country that are expected in spring. Some elections of special relevance for both forces, which seem to have buried deal options and they prepare to measure themselves at the polls. It so happens that Euskadi is one of the few territories where resist the space to the left of the PSOEwhich has six deputies under the acronym ‘Elkarrekin‘, which bring together Podemos and IU. A brand that the purples plan to continue using, although what was their main ally, Izquierda Unida, has already signed a pre-agreement to go to the elections in coalition with Sumar.
The general secretary of Podemos herself, Ione Belarrachampioned this brand when it ratified Look at Gorrotxategi as the party’s candidate for the elections. “We have a unique opportunity for Euskadi to have a government that is more like the people. For that it is essential that Elkarrekin Podemos is stronger than ever“, he assured at the beginning of February, assuming the name of the coalition as his own. The plans of the purple leadership now involve maintaining the name of the coalition in Euskadi as his own, giving continuity to what they consider a widely established brand in Basque politics. An acronym that has now become a political asset in dispute and that collects the legacy of formations that are now called to confront each other at the polls.
In Podemos they already use the name Elkarrekin with complete normality, while in United Left They point out that in all the coalition negotiations – the last ones, the municipal ones in May -, “it was expressly agreed not to use these unitary acronyms unless all the actors involved were present. A guideline that the purple ones seem willing to violate. If necessary, Izquierda Unida could appeal the use of the trademark before the Electoral Board, although the formation today avoids placing itself in that scenario. They trust that a minimal loophole will open that could illuminate a unity candidacy in which Podemos also enters. As of today, the possibilities of agreements are zero, according to sources close to the negotiation. There are no meetings planned between Sumar and Podemos, who have already begun campaigning each with their own candidate for the Lehendakaritza; Gorrotxategi for the purple ones and Alba Garcia by Sumar.
established brand
In this context, the name of the coalition is presented as a item of great value, after achieving good results in the last two provincial elections and being one of the few brands that have consolidated, after being revalidated in different elections: ‘Elkarrekin’ (‘Together’) was born for the elections of 2016 with Podemos, IU and Equo, and was used again in 2020, this time with Podemos and IU. In the municipal elections, ‘Elkarrekin’ was once again on the ballot in the three Basque provinces and Yolanda Díaz herself went to Donosti to campaign to ask for the vote for this acronym.
Although for months we can and add in the Basque Country They tried to abstract from the clashes that were occurring at the national level, avoiding being influenced by the breakup of the former in Congress and by the disdain that Díaz exhibited towards purples in the Galician negotiations. The negotiations were complicated from the first moment due to differences in diagnosis: Podemos exhibited the six deputies of the brand and established itself as the main reference of the space in Basque politics, while insisting on the lack of structure by the Basque federation of Sumar –Sumar Mugimenduto-. The latter, in turn, consider that the latest political movements in the national arena have condemned the purples to occupy a residual space on the left, and they trust the Sumar brand pullin the legislative agenda promoted by the central government and in the figure of Yolanda Díaz.
The meeting between the two actors became impossible after each of them presented a different candidate. But until then, the purples were confident of being able to revalidate the electoral alliance with Izquierda Unida, which finally announced an agreement with Add to join the Basques in coalition. A agreement that came by surpriseof which the leader of Podemos in Euskadi, Pilar Garridosaid he found out “through the press”, and that it led to a cascade of reproaches towards Yolanda Díaz’s party for having “excluded” them.