The Broad Front makes a move to add Podemos for 29N: they propose Irene Montero as number two for Madrid after Emilio Delgado

The Frente Amplio is holding talks with Podemos and has proposed reserving the number two spot on the Madrid candidacy for Irene Montero, behind Emilio Delgado, according to sources close to the negotiations consulted by 'ElConstitucional.es'. The offer seeks to unblock one of the main obstacles to the agreement, while the purple party retains the option of presenting its own list headed by the former Minister of Equality.

The proposal would modify the distribution that Más Madrid made public on Sunday, when it placed Delgado first and the Minister of Health, Mónica García, second. The consulted sources now describe room to cede positions and incorporate Podemos, although this distribution still needs to be finalized between the organizations and has not been officially announced.

This newspaper's interlocutors see possibilities for understanding in a large part of the territory, with Madrid and Barcelona as the most difficult points. This is a negotiating expectation, with no provincial agreements closed for now. In Catalonia, moreover, any fit must start from the pact already announced between Podemos and Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC), which covers the four Catalan constituencies.

The pending question is how far electoral cooperation between the organizations will go. Podemos rejects integrating into the Frente Amplio, but maintains conversations to seek other formulas. Collaboration by provinces would allow sharing candidacies in some territories and competing in others, although it would require explaining what political project and what leadership each ballot represents.

Montero maintains the pact with Rufián and confirms contacts

Irene Montero responded this Tuesday with a "no" when Silvia Intxaurrondo asked her on 'La Hora de La 1', on TVE, if Podemos would join the Frente Amplio. She defended her agreement with ERC and the team she will form with Gabriel Rufián during the campaign, which, she maintains, is open to other forces.

Its refusal to join the coalition coexists with the willingness to negotiate electoral understandings.

In 'Hoy por Hoy', on Cadena SER, Montero has also confirmed that they are still talking. "Yes, there are always conversations," she said, before asking that the negotiation be taken care of so that it reaches a successful conclusion. Podemos, consulted by this newspaper, refers to the public positions of Montero and Ione Belarra, who maintain the invitation to those who want to join and the willingness to talk.

Belarra has defended this Tuesday from Congress that Rufián and Montero constitute the best team to lift the left and stop the far-right. At the same time, she has acknowledged that organizations are missing. Podemos proposes to expand its alliance, while the Frente Amplio invites the purples to join the project led by Ada Colau. Both parties speak of cooperation, but start from different electoral references and procedures.

This disagreement also affects Montero's role in Madrid. The consulted sources place the possibility of her leading her own candidacy among the blockages that persist. The second place offered would allow her to secure a prominent place on a shared list, but it would not by itself resolve who exercises state leadership or how the alliance's decisions are made.

The primaries and the prior agreement with ERC

The purple formation maintains its open primaries for this Wednesday 14 and Thursday 15 of October. Montero insists that the citizens' vote would have been a good way to order the leaderships of the entire left. However, the agreement with ERC has been announced before that process concludes, a sequence that Intxaurrondo asked her to explain during the interview.

Montero has responded that the deadlines are very short and that reaching agreements is compatible with democratically electing candidates. She added that what comes out of the primaries will be part of the understanding. The distinction that Podemos proposes separates the election of people from the pact between organizations; it remains to be explained how this criterion would be transferred to an eventual shared candidacy with the Frente Amplio.

The former Vice President of the Government and founder of Podemos, Pablo Iglesias, has defended on TVE's 'Malas Lenguas' the possibility of extending the collaboration between Montero and Rufián to other territorial forces and Izquierda Unida. His proposal contemplates agreements outside Madrid even if the capital maintains separate candidacies. This is a public position of the former leader, which needs to be translated into decisions by the involved parties.

The electoral logic has a concrete basis. In provinces that distribute few deputies, dividing support between two lists can leave both out of Congress. Madrid and Barcelona offer more possibilities of representation due to their size, but even there, competition can change who obtains the last seat. The public projection of the Rufián-Montero tandem will have to be measured both by its ability to attract new voters and by the conversion of that support into deputies.

Colau, IU and Sumar continue to seek a broad candidacy

The four parties of the Broad Front proposed Ada Colau as a candidate for the Presidency of the Government this Monday, as 'ElConstitucional.es' had been anticipating. The agreement has consolidated support for the former mayor, although her definitive public response and the fitting of the candidacies are still pending. The project presentation is scheduled for this Saturday the 17th, after the close of the coalition registration.

The federal coordinator of Izquierda Unida, Antonio Maíllo, defended this Tuesday on TVE that there are possibilities of agreement with Podemos and asked that unitary messages be turned into facts. The co-coordinator of Movimiento Sumar, Verónica Martínez Barbero, maintained in an interview on Telecinco her confidence that the purples will join. The support for Colau has not closed these conversations.

From the Comuns, Gerardo Pisarello has confirmed that they are talking with Podemos and with forces such as Compromís, Chunta Aragonesista and Ara Més. He has called for cooperation, generosity and pragmatism, respecting the uniqueness of each organization. This call comes after the anger with Rufián that this newspaper reported on Sunday, when internal sources conveyed the deterioration of trust and the difficulties that his pact with Podemos opened for state unity.

Rufián claimed today on X that ERC and Comuns should talk to unblock the situation in Catalonia. The republican leadership, through its spokesperson Isaac Albert, maintains that it will run under its own acronym and rules out joining the Broad Front. The candidate's call and the limits set by his party also leave pending the scope of possible Catalan cooperation.

The deadline to register coalitions ends this Friday, October 16. Candidacies must be submitted between the 21st and 26th. Until Friday, organizations have to decide with whom they will run and in which territories, while Podemos primaries will be held during the two days prior to the closing.