Maíllo defends that "Adding is surpassed as a unifying movement" and asks for a more horizontal formula

The leader of Izquierda Unida, Antonio Maíllo, defended this Monday the need to create a more “horizontal” space on the left through conversations with all parties, including Podemos, after the poor results in the European Championships and the resignation of Yolanda Díaz to the front of Sumar. “We have not done something well,” Maíllo admitted in a forceful reflection, in an interview on Cadena Ser, in which he expressed that the personality of the vice president of the Government, Yolanda Díaz, “has conditioned the project.”

The Andalusian leader has valued Díaz’s role as Minister of Labor, and has said that her resignation is “a reading that honors her” and that “it facilitates the step we have to take now.” The IU leader has celebrated that Díaz can “continue to be a magnificent minister” at the head of Labor. “She is the best labor minister we have had in the history of Spain,” said Maíllo, who also praised that “Sumar is a great parliamentary group, which is part of the Government” as an asset for the political space on the left of the PSOE.

And there has ended the positive reading of what has happened in the last 24 hours. For Maíllo, “there are things that could be improved, a much more horizontal space and equality between all the actors in the project.” The IU leader has expressed disappointment with the result of the June 9 elections, which has left them out of the European Parliament. He has regretted that if several years ago they reached 18% of the vote together with Podemos, this Sunday it was 8 % and has concluded that “the objectives we had have not been achieved, not even close.”

The head of IU has argued that Díaz’s project has obtained the same MEPs as the extreme right, which is why he considers that “Sumar is surpassed as a unifying project” and that, from now on, “it has to be an alliance of parties ” in which it has the presence of Podemos. “We must hold an honest debate and a reflection by all left-wing parties,” said Maíllo.

The former Andalusian leader has stated that on the left “we lack humility”, that “we need a new common sense that has been lost” and that its leaders face the challenge of “making it similar to the people we represent.” If not, “people won’t believe it, they won’t identify with us.” Furthermore, Maíllo said, “we are distancing ourselves from the people who have to support us.”

The head of the IU has pointed out that the situation of the left, at the European level, is due to different factors, but has outlined some that he considers applicable to the national framework. Among them, Maíllo has lamented that in the current political debate “the challenging discourse is being carried out by the right”, in reference to the message against the elites, against the European Union and against the institutions that has taken root among the extreme right militants of Vox.

Maíllo has declared that on the left there has been “an imposture” between “what we say we defend and what we do”, between the image of “sorority” and “aspiration for tolerance” while “in our space we do the opposite” . The IU leader added that the conflicts between different parties “are not resolved in 15 days of smiles.”

“Politics is about obeying the people, it is not about being delighted to have met us,” added the IU leader. Asked about the presence of Podemos in a future left-wing coalition beyond Sumar, Maíllo recalled that “the closest thing to something sacred is the popular will” and that, once the vote has been cast at the polls, “about that we have to construct political decisions.”