The Andalusian left says it perceives a change in the mood of the progressive electorate and faces the campaign for 17-M with an optimistic discourse. Antonio Maíllo, the candidate for the Junta of the Por Andalucía coalition, has set the objective this Monday of achieving up to 10 deputies in the next Parliament. In 2022 he obtained five. “We are making a bet to double results. We are not here to survive, but to risk it,” he assured. At an informative breakfast organized by the New Economy Forum, the federal coordinator of IU defended his party’s proposals for these elections; It has distinguished itself from the PSOE, a partner in the central government on issues such as housing; and has vindicated the pact reached to participate with seven parties in the elections and not further fragment the vote.
In a gesture to show unity with Podemos, which joined the candidacy on the last day of the deadline, its regional coordinator, Raquel Martínez, was in charge of introducing Maíllo. The leader, from the internal current that defended the agreement throughout the last year, has justified her presence at the event: “We have a shared responsibility, that the concessions and resignations serve to achieve change in Andalusia and are at the same time an impulse to stop the barbarism in the rest of Spain.” Podemos, which changed its strategy after the last setback in Castilla y León, criticized after the signing that the agreement did not recognize its real political weight (it has one for Jaén and two for Seville and Málaga). The one who had been elected in primaries as a candidate for the presidency of the Board, Juan Antonio Delgado, has decided to join the lists as number six for Cádiz, a solely symbolic position. “Raquel has been very coherent in her defense and political thesis, which they have won,” Maíllo acknowledged. “This agreement has been applauded by civil society, the voter. People do not want complications. We have sacrificed in favor of an instrument that favors the popular mandate. Not a mandate from each party,” he noted.
The candidate has worked hard to defend his as the “ballot of the Andalusian left”, ignoring Adelante Andalucía, the party created by Teresa Rodríguez and which some polls even place above the coalition. “If they give us the numbers, we govern, we want to transform. Knowing the wear and tear that governing entails,” he stressed to differentiate himself from those of José Ignacio García, Adelante candidate. Maíllo has assured that he does not fear or think about the surprise of the Andalusian formation, but rather that he is dedicated to doing it to “PP and Vox.” Regarding the division of space, the head of the list for Seville has subtracted iron. “Zero drama with this, because in other periods of history there was IU and there was the Andalusian Party. Nothing happened, there were different projects. The agreement demonstrates a change of direction in Spanish politics.” In 2018, united, the candidacy led by Rodríguez achieved 17 seats and 16.2% of the vote.
For Maíllo, “a good result (M-17) will reinforce that the path started in Andalusia will be ratified in the rest of the State.” The breakfast is organized one day after the presentation event in Seville of the project for the general elections of IU, Comunes, Más Madrid and Movimiento Sumar, in which ministers Pablo Bustinduy, Mónica García and Ernest Urtasun supported the candidate. “If Sumar is not in the Government, there is no recognition of the Palestinian State, nor a prohibition on the use of the bases. The result of Pedro Sánchez (as a leader recognized by other progressive executives) is our policies,” defended Maíllo, who has also sought to differentiate himself from the partner without mentioning (also this Monday) María Jesús Montero, the former first vice president and socialist candidate.
“We are a coherent left-wing project. What we say in the campaign we will do later. The PSOE says a lot in the campaign and then its legs shake,” he has criticized the party, which he has also criticized for its positions on housing a week before the decree that extends rents is voted, destined to fail due to the rejection of PP and Junts. “The negotiations continue, although it seems not,” he assured without wanting to consider the vote lost after Yolanda Díaz last week called the formation “racist and classist.” On a national level, Maíllo has also assured that Sumar will ensure that the Government of Spain recognizes the rights of the Sahrawi people. A policy that distances it a lot, for the moment, from the position that the socialists maintain after the change of the Executive in March 2022.
