The parties of Sumar have announced that next October 17 they will officially present their candidacy for the next general elections and will announce their head of list, regardless of whether or not early elections are finally called. The brand under which they will run will be Frente Amplio, a name that had already emerged recently and is now officially confirmed.
The decision was adopted this Sunday at the summit held by the ministers and the formations present in the Government by the minority quota, among them Movimiento Sumar, Izquierda Unida (IU), Más Madrid and Comuns, a meeting marked by the situation opened after the rejection in Congress of the two housing decrees. That parliamentary setback has led the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, to reflect on the possibility of bringing forward the elections.
“There is no legislature without housing”
After the meeting, the formations of the alliance have stressed that the mobilizations registered in recent days, described as massive and historic, show that “there is no legislature without housing”. In this vein, sources from the minority partner have indicated that, whether elections are called or not, the Frente Amplio space will continue working to meet the demands transferred from the street.
“Whether elections are called or not, from Frente Amplio we will continue working to take charge of the demands of the street and protect all those for whom their home is not a source of tranquility but of insecurity,” these sources have conveyed, while insisting that the early election is an “exclusive” competence of Pedro Sánchez.
From the Sumar space, they also affirm that they are prepared for any scenario and claim that their role will be essential to revalidate the Executive. For this reason, they have called for October 17 an event open to citizens and civil society, in which they plan to present the project's roadmap.
The candidate's unknown remains open
For now, the Sumar parties have not yet revealed who their candidate for the general elections will be, although they have already set a date to resolve that unknown. In the internal pools, several government ministers are especially mentioned, and in recent days the name of the Minister of Health and leader of Más Madrid, Mónica García, has gained strength.
Mónica García herself has tried to curb speculation and has insisted that she only thinks about her role as head of list in Madrid. Internal sources from Sumar have explained to this agency that a sector of the space sees her as a viable option, despite the complexity that would imply combining that projection with her designation as a candidate for the regional elections in Madrid in 2027.
Other voices from the space maintain that a formula has also been proposed in which Mónica García heads the list for Madrid and there is a tandem with the Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, who has also been mentioned as an electoral reference and whom internal sectors place as number one for Barcelona. For his part, the Minister of Social Rights, Pablo Bustinduy, is a well-regarded profile within the formations, although he has been ruled out on different occasions to lead the candidacy.
Extended meeting with parliamentary allies
Sumar's next immediate step will be to hold a new meeting this Monday, this time extended to its political and parliamentary allies, including Compromís, Chunta Aragonesista and Més per Mallorca. After that meeting, a public appearance by leaders of this space is planned, in which new details about the electoral strategy and the organization of the October 17 event could be specified.
