Berliner Abendpost - Minister tries to unite Spain's far-left ahead of vote

NYSE - LSE

CMSC	0.29%	22.085	$
BTI	-0.03%	60.02	$
NGG	0.33%	82.59	$
BCE	0.28%	21.38	$
CMSD	0.31%	22.38	$
GSK	0.59%	52.78	$
RIO	1.16%	90.54	$
RBGPF	0.52%	67.35	$
RYCEF	1.95%	19.46	$
AZN	-4.01%	171.61	$
BCC	5.02%	76.06	$
BP	1.66%	39.2	$
VOD	11.14%	14.72	$
JRI	-0.15%	13.01	$
RELX	1.14%	32.44	$

Minister tries to unite Spain's far-left ahead of vote

POLITICS 30.03.2023

Minister tries to unite Spain's far-left ahead of vote / Photo: JAVIER SORIANO - AFP

Spain's popular labour minister is trying to unite the far-left under one banner ahead of a tight year-end general election which will determine if Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez remains in office.

Text size:

Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz launched in July 2022 a new political movement called "Sumar" which she hopes will include all parties to the left of Sanchez's Socialists.

She is expected to announce Sunday that Sumar -- which means "to add" -- will take part in the next general election with her at the helm.

Running together is crucial because if far-left parties stand separately, the chances of the left again winning a majority in parliament "is almost zero", Oriol Bartomeus, politics professor at Barcelona’s Autonomous University, told AFP.

Sanchez's Socialists have since January 2020 governed with far-left party Podemos, which has been losing support and members.

Diaz, who is a Communist Party member, has the support of smaller formations such as the United Left and Mas Pais, but has run into hostility from Podemos which has until now led the space to the left of the Socialists.

Former Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias, one of the founders of the party which has 35 seats in Spain's 350-seat parliament, accused "many sectors" inside the far-left to seek "to do a lot of damage" to Podemos, during an interview Monday with radio RAC1.

- 'Patchwork of organisations' -

Iglesias left politics in May 2021 after Podemos suffered a drubbing in a regional election in Madrid, the latest in a string of disappointing poll results.

Diaz, who is known as a good negotiator, frequently argues that to "win a country, we need everyone".

Lluis Orriols, a politics professor at Carlos III University in Madrid, said Podemos is reluctant to lose "its protagonism and visibility... in a patchwork of organisations headed by a leader" that does not belong to the party.

Bartomeus said Podemos wants to win "a sufficient number of lawmakers to be a key party" in the parliament that emerges after the next election.

Podemos has threatened not to take part in Diaz's expected announcement on Sunday if an agreement is not reached beforehand on how to pick candidates for the polls.

The party wants open primaries, a system which would favour it since it has a large and organised network of members.

But Diaz wants to wait for regional and municipal elections on May 28 to find a consensus among all the formations that make up Sumar.

- 'Disaster' -

When he quit politics in 2021, Iglesias nominated Diaz to take over his post as deputy prime minister in Sanchez's government.

It was a "clever" strategy to pick a party outsider to stem years of declining support for Podemos, said Orriols.

Iglesias did not expect that Diaz would distance herself from Podemos and create a political platform which has been gaining ground.

Polls consistently indicate she is Spain's most popular politician.

She was responsible for a labour reform which is credited with a sharp fall in the number of temporary job contracts.

As labour minister she also oversaw a generous job furlough scheme at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, which ensured people had an income even when large parts of the economy were closed due to lockdowns.

Sanchez gave Diaz a high profile during a debate in parliament earlier this month over a failed no-confidence motion brought against his government by far-right party Vox.

Orriols said this was a sign that Sanchez is "worried" that the far-left which he relies on to govern could suffer a "disaster" during the next election if it is not united.

J.P.Hoffmann--BlnAP

Featured

Iran declares Hormuz strait closed, US military insists traffic flowing

Iran said the Strait of Hormuz was closed on Sunday while the United States insisted it remained open, after the confrontation over the vital waterway again sparked US and Iranian strikes.

Ukraine's Zelensky orders government reshuffle, new PM

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced a major reshuffle of the government on Sunday, proposing the replacement of Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko and the heads of some law enforcement agencies.

Iran, US trade more strikes as fighting escalates

Iran said Sunday it was closing the Strait of Hormuz and launched missiles and drones at Gulf neighbours after the US carried out a new round of strikes as their conflict escalated.

Noosha Aubel and Potsdam: The trust placed in her has been squandered

Noosha Aubel: a €33.4 million budget deficit in the state capital Potsdam, around €500,000 spent on external consultancy, revised austerity plans at the expense of children – and a shameful case involving a severely disabled toddler as part of a nursery scandal: Noosha Aubel inherited some of these crises, but the leadership deficit is now entirely her own. A 72.9 per cent share of the vote is not a mark of leadership; it is merely a vote of confidence. Noosha Aubel (50) received an exceptionally high level of this confidence in October 2025 – and has squandered it in a surprisingly short space of time. The hope for a fresh start has given way to bitter disillusionment, which is by no means limited to political opponents. After just 100 days, observers were already finding no clear direction whatsoever; in June 2026, media circles openly reported on unsettled supporters, unilateral actions and a lack of majorities. The yardstick is simple: is Potsdam functioning better? Are the finances in order, decisions properly prepared and the most vulnerable protected? So far, the answer is: no. Potsdam wanted a fresh start. It got a mayor who all too often confuses management jargon with leadership and is unable to get a grip on problems in the state capital. Added to this is a shameful scandal involving a toddler with multiple severe disabilities, for whom Aubel is personally responsible, and which raises questions about morality and decency. It is particularly shameful that media enquiries are not being answered by the head of the press office at Potsdam Town Hall, Jan Brunzlow – even though Noosha Aubel has demonstrably been contacted personally. Instead of answering the questions posed in a transparent and comprehensible manner, Brunzlow, according to the available documents, is pushing for a ‘personal conversation’, thereby apparently attempting to shift the communication into a non-public, informal setting. Should this course of action indeed contravene the applicable obligations to provide information under press law, a fundamental question arises: Is Noosha Aubel fit to hold the office of Lord Mayor of the state capital, Potsdam?