Thursday, March 28

Progressive forces advance towards a great Canarian confluence despite the ruptures in Podemos


Progressive forces of the Archipelago are working to seal a great confluence for the next elections, which is “above the parties” and which they describe as “increasingly alive”. The path is not only to reissue the current alliances between Sí se puede (a party with deep roots in Tenerife), Izquierda Unida Canaria and Podemos, but also to expand the space to other forces and social groups that want to join. They are excited about Yolanda Díaz’s project and in recent months they have held workshops on participatory methodologies that help manage dissent and generate a future political program hand in hand with social groups. “A possible Canarian broad front is closer than ever,” said the general coordinator of Podemos Canarias, Laura Fuentes, in a recent meeting with the militancy and social groups in that search to strengthen the party.

The old cracks in Podemos Canarias end their representation in Congress

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The secretary of organization of the party, César Merino, highlights that “without egos, without looking over your shoulder, working one on one for civil society, the coalition will be easier because we already have a long way to go.” He believes that the key is to talk not only about candidacies but about a political project and advances that “we are very close to being able to make a presentation in civil society as a candidacy that is above the parties, above Podemos itself and the organizations present “, Add. A space in which they will continue to dialogue in the coming months with other formations, including Más Canarias, which has recently been set up and which is currently focused on the musculature of the formation itself.

Podemos Canarias faces this new stage after the crisis it has experienced due to the loss of its representatives in Congress. A question preceded by very different situations. On the one hand, there is the case of former deputy Alberto Rodríguez, with many followers in the progressive space and much loved by the militancy, who was forced to leave his seat after a sentence that has already been served and who continues to fight for it to be returned your record. However, in this process, Rodríguez left the formation in which he was a member, so if he regained his seat, it would not be from United We Can. To this is added the news from just a few weeks ago that Meri Pita (precautionarily suspended from militancy) decided to go to the mixed group in Congress and not leave her minutes despite accusing the party of “witch hunting” in a letter that Eleven other militants and prominent officials signed, such as the councilor of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Conchi Monzón or the first deputy mayor of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Javier Doreste. Later, the councilor of Santa Cruz de Tenerife Yaiza Gorrín decided to abandon the training and leave the minutes of it, an initiative applauded by Podemos Canarias but which has hit the circle of the capital of Tenerife, where the councilor is highly appreciated.

The party does not officially confirm the number of casualties that the decision of these people has caused, but as this newspaper has learned, of almost 1,000 militants who pay their dues (not registered people) 13 have been discharged. The circle of Podemos in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria they recently met and appointed Tito Martín municipal spokesman, opening a new stage that would leave behind the weight that Javier Doreste, who was head of the list, had in the party, who had decided long ago not to be at the front of an elected position and another organic.

The breakup of Pita and the militants who follow her is a situation that Merino does not believe will cause more problems in the party due to the “path” that these people brought, such as deleting their list from the past primaries of the party. whose head of list was Pita. A determination that then the members of his party argued as “lack of transparency” in the process. Podemos Canarias, after the decision of the defecting deputy to leave the United Podemos parliamentary group, stated in a statement that she was “aware of the creation of a new party that began as a small association and that was registered a few weeks ago in the name of positions who sympathize with the deputy, so the movement seems to be to transfuge towards a new project that is in no way the same because the one that obtained its act in 2019 ”. This is the Reunir party, registered by Carmen Valido, expelled from Podemos for unsubscribing from the Parliamentary list headed by Noemí Santana one day before the deadline to register it. Sources from Podemos point out that agreeing with this party could be a red line in the formation of this broad left-wing front.

Javier Doreste, for his part, believes in that broad left-wing front in which the spirit of the tides and the essence of what Podemos was at the beginning, in which different currents converged, is recovered. He affirms that although he is not a candidate, he wants to add to the construction of this broad front and that at this time he does not waste “a minute” in thinking about internal discrepancies, but rather in his commitment to citizenship, the program and in building that project so defended by Yolanda Díaz, with which that initial “illusion” is recovered. He explains that he has not abandoned the discipline of Podemos. “I have a contract and commitment that I have to carry out” and for this reason he insists that his energies are in it and in “building the great alternative”.

The third on the list would assume the minutes if Pita leaves her

Hiurma Castejón is secretary of organization of Izquierda Unida Canaria and was ranked number three on the list for the Congress for Las Palmas de Unidas Podemos, headed by Victoria Rosell and followed by Meri Pita. She explains that when someone agrees to appear on an electoral list, it is with the consequences that this entails and she believes that Pita should have left the record. Castejón explains that she will be where the party needs her but she does not believe that the deputy will leave her record once she has passed to the Mixed group. Regarding the case of Alberto Rodríguez, he insists that the IUC understands it as an “outrage” that his minutes were taken away, but they understand that “an unjust situation cannot be more injustice” and he recalls that it supposes the vote of thousands of people.

The organization secretary also advocates working in this confluence space and mentions those participatory methodology workshops. She also the good harmony between progressive formations and that she was invited to the recent meeting of Canarian leaders of Podemos with the militancy and social groups. An event that she was unable to attend for personal reasons, but that she did have scheduled on her agenda. Regarding the future elections, she points out that “we will continue working” to join the progressive forces.

A confluence involving more forces

Another of the key forces in this possible front or great confluence is Sí se puede. “We are open to dialogue and participating in common work spaces with the different left-wing forces in the Canary Islands, obviously, to the left of the PSOE,” he explains. In this sense, they clarify that there is “a real and honest intention to search more or less deeply for a confluence with left-wing organizations in the Canary Islands, but we have not made closed decisions in advance in this regard. You have to take steps and assess how the processes and circumstances are taking place at all times.” Last March, the group held its IV Congress. Rubén Fuentes Beltrán, member of the new Canarian Permanent of Sí se puede, highlights that Podemos and IUC are organizations with which they share political space and ideological affinity, but “they are not the only current or future possibilities with which to converge”, he qualifies. It does clarify that the members of this organization have been part of different spaces for reflection and work in this regard and we intend to continue doing so.

The progressive forces advance in these approaches, while maintaining expectations with the Yolanda Díaz project, which began meetings at the end of last year to build “a project for a feminist country.” Then, different women from the Canarian left spoke with enthusiasm, also from the current of Podemos that followed Meri Pita. United We Can has insisted in the state sphere that it feels represented by the Minister of Labor and included in her project. In the Canary Islands, the different leaders show him their constant support on social networks. Merino has pointed out that in the party “they feel very comfortable in her speech” and in the line of the new executive and the Citizen Council. As for the Reunir project, Meri Pita has already assured that she has nothing to do with it, while the councilor of the Cabildo Concepción Monzón said in a recent press conference with the signatories of Pita’s letter that she will return to her job when it ends the legislature. Deputy Mayor Javier Doreste stressed that this was not the time to talk about this project registered by people who are no longer in the party. On the other hand, there remains the unknown of Alberto Rodríguez, for now focused on his defense, although always linked to social movements and constantly approaching his followers on social networks.



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