The former Vice President of the Government, Pablo Iglesias, has denounced that the “objective” of Frente Amplio was to “kill” Podemos “ahead of any consideration”, after both formations failed to reach an agreement for the general elections on November 29.
In an intervention during the discussion panel of Las mañanas de RNE, Pablo Iglesias directly accused Frente Amplio of “committing suicide” to “not get” deputies in several constituencies, a strategy that, he argued, would have been imposed despite existing conversations and territorial pre-agreements in communities such as Canarias and the Comunidad Valenciana.
Madrid, outside the pacts, according to his version
According to his account, the constituency of Madrid had been left out of the agreements between Podemos and Frente Amplio, because, in his opinion, it is “the place where the electoral system is most indifferent to fragmentation”. In that context, he pointed out that there was a decision by Frente Amplio to affect the purple formation.
“And there I believe there was a decision by Frente Amplio to commit suicide, to say: 'well, we won't get deputies in many constituencies, but here the objective is to kill Podemos ahead of any other consideration'”, Pablo Iglesias concluded during the discussion panel on RNE.
The agreement with Gabriel Rufián and the role of Catalonia
In this context, Pablo Iglesias highlighted the agreement between Podemos and the spokesperson for ERC, Gabriel Rufián, of whom he said he is “the main symbolic asset” on the state left, along with Irene Montero.
Thus, the former vice president pointed out that Podemos sought an agreement formula in Catalonia through which it supported Esquerra Republicana and included leaders of the purple formation in the lists of the Catalan party, while the Comuns did not want to enter into that pact.
A "strong left" against PP and Vox
On the other hand, Pablo Iglesias advocated for a “strong left” that would oppose a potential coalition government between PP and Vox after 29N, although he also argued that it should not say “yes” to everything proposed by the PSOE.
In relation to the joint lists for the Senate between the PSOE and Frente Amplio, Pablo Iglesias questioned why the same formula is not used for the Congress and recalled that in the year 2000 a similar formula was already agreed upon that did not work.