The second vice-president of the Government, Yolanda Díaz has finally formalised the announcement of her candidacy for the presidency of the Government. Yesterday, Sunday, the presentation of her new ultra-left political platform, under the name Sumar, took place.
The choice of the party’s name, which means ‘add up’ or ‘sum’ in Spanish, could not have been more appropriate, bearing in mind that no fewer than fifteen political forces will be present… until Pablo Iglesias authorises his subordinates, ministers Montero and Belarra, to incorporate Unidas Podemos into the new neo-communist project. This will not be easy, given that Iglesias – who handpicked Yolanda Díaz as his successor in the coalition government – now feels betrayed because Díaz refuses to commit to a primary election that would pit her against Unidas Podemos, the same people who got her where she is.
In any case, as the most critical Spanish media explain, “Her central message at yesterday’s rally was that Spain needs a change. The slogan would make some sense if it were a party that had just emerged from a popular initiative from outside the institutions. Spoken by the vice-president of a government that has been in power for three years, this message of change is sarcasm that seeks to attract the support of the most radical sectors of the left in order to destroy the brand led by Pablo Iglesias (Unidas Podemos), its great enemy in the populist underworld”.
