Yolanda Diaz arrives at the general elections on July 23 leading Add, a formation in which he has managed to bring together the main parties to the left of the PSOE in record time. Trying to leave behind the crises that opened the purple space in a channel, the second vice president, the only woman candidate, will face the polls with the aim of being essential for Pedro Sánchez to revalidate the Government or, at least, to maintain the parliamentary force of which you now enjoy. Here are her points for her and against her from her SWOT, an assessment of her Weaknesses, Threats, Strengths, and Opportunities.
The following interactive table shows the keywords of the candidate analysis. Each term is developed in the texts that appear later.
Little cohesion. Sumar is made up of 15 parties that joined the coalition against the clock after the electoral advance. But Podemos, the most important actor in space, is not aligned with Yolanda Díaz’s strategy, going so far as to question some of her star proposals such as universal heritage, and limiting her campaign to those constituencies that she leads. The lack of cohesion threatens to leave a part of the electorate of the candidacy, disenchanted with Sumar, at home. Podemos is joined by Compromís, which is also campaigning freely, presenting an alternative program and advancing its intention to form its own group in Congress if it achieves the necessary deputies.
Feminism. The veto of Irene Montero meant the departure of one of the reference figures of feminism, in addition to causing the rejection of a part of the movement. Yolanda Díaz has tried to alleviate the lack of feminist references with the signing in extremis of the philosopher Elisabeth Duval who became a spokesperson in this area two days after the start of the campaign, and has organized an act on feminisms with other figures such as the philosopher Clara Serra. The leader of Sumar has defended an “integrative feminism & rdquor; and “99%” against Irene Montero’s most identity theses, but the lack of definition of her speech, which does not manage to position itself in key debates, can take its toll on this group.
Brand awareness. The recent creation of Sumar, which is contesting elections for the first time, still generates confusion in the leftist electorate. Under this coalition, 15 formations are integrated, some of them with obvious misgivings towards Yolanda Díaz’s project, as is the case of Podemos, and others trying to maintain their own idiosyncrasies, such as Ada Colau’s party or Compromís. But the reality is that the unitary ballot throughout the state will be Sumar, a brand still unknown to many that can cause confusion in the vote. The candidacy has tried to alleviate this situation by putting the face of its candidate, who does have a high level of knowledge that rises to 96.5% of the population, according to the CIS.
threats
Division. Yolanda Díaz achieved her main objective of uniting all the forces to the left of the PSOE, but the wounds are still open in the case of Podemos. The party of Ione Belarra opened a fight months ago with the leader of Sumar and has maintained it until the last moment, even after having joined the coalition in what it defined as a “pact without agreement”, after the veto of Irene Montero . The discontent in the party has moved to the toughest sector of its electorate, which rejects the vice president of the Government and that in Sumar they estimate 300,000 voters, 12% of the UP voter in 2019. Although Díaz has proposed to recover this support In the final stretch of the campaign, the truth is that the demobilization to the left of the PSOE can play against it.
Bear hug. That the outcome of July 23 will depend on the arithmetic of the blocks and not on the individual result is a mantra repeated by Sumar, who nonetheless faces the threat of being the minority party of the left-wing bloc. The risk of being blurred in front of the PSOE is there and it was sharpened at the beginning of the campaign, when Pedro Sánchez called for the useful vote to unite progressive support. Although this appeal has ceased on the part of the socialists, the good harmony displayed in public by Sánchez and Díaz, together with the lack of mutual criticism in a non-aggression strategy, may lead Sumar to blur in the face of the socialist proposal, by not radically differ in their positions.
Electoral system. The main objective that Sumar has set for this campaign is to unseat Vox from third place, a key position for the distribution of seats in small and medium-sized provinces. The electoral system is very proportional in the big cities, where Sumar is stronger, but it penalizes minority formations in less populated places, where Yolanda Díaz’s coalition plays at a disadvantage, since in inland and rural Spain it has more roots Santiago Abascal’s party. It is foreseeable that, unless they manage to clearly overcome Vox, the electoral system will penalize them in the medium and small constituencies, which distribute two thirds of the seats in Congress.
Strengths
Empathy. In Sumar they consider that one of its strong points is the profile of the candidate, who throughout the legislature has advocated for lowering the noise and has always tried to show her more human side. It is precisely the “empathy & rdquor; of Yolanda Díaz one of the aspects that, they consider, can play in their favour. In recent weeks, the leader has addressed her messages to those who “are having a bad time & rdquor ;, rejecting triumphalism and showing solidarity with the reality of thousands of Spaniards. A speech that, together with the kindness of the forms, can attract the progressive or center voter who now rejects the colder image of Pedro Sánchez.
Management experience. The second vice president of the Government arrives at the general elections supported by her management at the head of the Ministry of Labor. Beyond the increase in the interprofessional minimum wage (SMI) to 1,080 euros, the leader of Sumar was the promoter of the ertes during the coronavirus pandemic, a mechanism that the employer recognized worked. In addition, the second vice president approved a labor reform that, for the moment, has allowed Spain to have 20.86 million contributors at the beginning of July, a figure never seen before in Spain. Alberto Núñez Feijóo himself acknowledged a few weeks ago that he will not repeal this reform, the result of the agreement between employers and unions.
Dialogue. If Díaz boasts of something, it is one of the 15 pacts that he has closed throughout the legislature with the employers and the unions. The Sumar leader uses this figure to support her preference for dialogue and agreement over imposition. The truth is that the second vice president of the Government has managed to maintain a fluid relationship with the president of the CEOE, Antonio Garamendi, and with the unions and in a context of crisis, she has carried out more than a dozen agreements, among which the labour reform. However, Díaz’s pulse has not trembled when it comes to increasing the minimum wage in recent years with the only consensus of the unions and without having the approval of the employer.
Opportunities
Unite vote. Since almost two years ago he announced his intention to build a new space to the left of the PSOE, Díaz made it clear that his intention was to bring together all the progressive forces under the umbrella of Sumar. After some not easy negotiations, the second vice president has achieved it. Some fifteen parties concur in Sumar, which allows the votes of various formations to be concentrated in a single ballot in numerous constituencies, opting for a greater number of seats. Thus, by way of example, in Madrid the Sumar ballot will be able to centralize the vote for Podemos, IU and Más Madrid; in the Valencian Community, the vote for the purples and Compromís; and so in other provinces where several forces appeared.
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Only Woman. “I want to be the first president of my country, the first president of Spain.” With these words, Díaz ran as a candidate at the beginning of April and, beyond the declaration of intent, they keep a reality. Not only has Spain never had a female president, but none of the major parties has ever presented a female candidate. The Sumar leader will be the first woman to head the ballot for one of the main formations since the beginning of democracy, which can attract the vote of many citizens who consider it necessary to demasculinize politics.
Sánchez wear. One of Yolanda Díaz’s opportunities on July 23 is precisely in her government partner. The low level of fidelity that Pedro Sánchez arouses, together with the wear and tear of his figure after five years at the head of the Government, opens the way for a transfer of votes from the PSOE to Sumar by those who have not lost confidence in the government. president but they want to bet on progressive options. An electorate, especially female, that Yolanda Díaz has addressed in recent days to prevent any socialist vote from staying at home.