The federal coordinator of Izquierda Unida, Antonio Maíllo, will propose to the member parties of Sumar to open the debate as soon as possible to elect the new political and electoral leader of the alternative left to replace Yolanda Díaz. In a meeting with journalists in Seville, the candidate of the Por Andalucía coalition for the presidency of the Junta later stated that this decision must be made before May. And not because I believe that the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, is going to bring forward the elections, but because “empty spaces do not belong in politics.” Maíllo has admitted that he does have a candidate, who he has refused to reveal.
“This acceleration (of the election of the referent) has to come from a common sense that I believe is shared by all organizations,” added the leader, who assured that the initiative was debated in the Federal Council of his party held this Monday, and that it will be proposed soon to the rest of the parties.
The IU coordinator has made his position public less than 48 hours after the setback at the polls in Castilla y León, where the coalition that included his party and Movimiento Sumar obtained only 2.2% of the votes, falling far from obtaining a seat in the Cortes. Podemos also had a disastrous result, with only 0.74% support. The meager support for both candidates reflects that the left has not benefited from the agitated debate in the last month with the unitary proposal of the ERC spokesperson in Congress, Gabriel Rufián, nor from the launch of the project to four parties for the next general elections. The latter, which brings together IU, Más Madrid, Comunes and Movimiento Sumar, still lacks a brand, leader and program, which makes its definition more complex.
In parallel, this week Movimiento Sumar has opened the debate on the future of the party. The formation created by Yolanda Díaz is scheduled to hold a meeting of its coordinating group, the decision-making body between assemblies, this Saturday the 21st to address the opening of a political process that would aim to relaunch the organization in the new stage. Once the alliance for the general elections has been finalized between Sumar’s parties in the Government and when the vice president has decided to withdraw from the electoral race, a redefinition of her “political identity” is proposed, which may or may not also include a renewal of management positions. Currently, the position of general coordinator is held by Lara Hernández, who came to the party as organization secretary after the first assembly of 2024 and accessed the top position on an interim basis after the vice president stepped aside due to the failure of the Europeans. In March 2025, together with Carlos Martín, she was officially named co-coordinator. Martin resigned in August and no one has yet been appointed to the position.
The group’s parliamentary spokesperson in Congress, Verónica Barbero, said Tuesday she was “in favor” of the formula chosen for the proposed debate being the Assembly, with more entity than a mere political conference like the one held at the end of last year. “There have been few changes lately,” he justified, welcoming the militancy debates.
