Sumar Buys Into Waterloo's Discourse

This Thursday marks the start of the new legislature, and as the days go by, nerves are growing around the formation of the new government in Spain. Sumar is once again making it clear that an electoral repetition must be avoided at all costs. To achieve this, they are willing to yield to Carles Puigdemont's demands.

In an article in Eldiario.es, Sumar-En Comú Podem's number two, Gerardo Pisarello, defends amnesty as a bargaining chip for Junts's support. He states that "there is a parliamentary majority to implement this type of de-judicialization and institutional unblocking measures." For him, amnesty is "a penal forgetfulness."

Pisarello conceives it as a mechanism to "renounce a type of criminal persecution that denaturalizes the debate and blocks the possibility of other future alternatives." He also recalls that "they have occurred in democracies damaged by deep conflicts as an alternative to the obsession with punishing adversaries opposed to each other."

Nod to Waterloo

Since the day after the elections, En Comú Podem has been the most energetic act within Sumar in negotiations with Puigdemont. It is also the sector closest to the theses of Catalan independence. Already during the campaign, they distanced themselves from Sumar's leadership by advocating for a referendum in Catalonia.

Now they are once again approaching the independence theses with a clear intention to make a nod to Waterloo. Pisarello writes that "in Spain, there are thousands of people investigated or prosecuted in the context of a political conflict in Catalonia." He speaks of "political leaders, activists, and academics" prosecuted by "judges obsessed not with the application of the law but with exemplary punishment."

Faced with what he defines as "a judicialization of politics," he calls for "restoring democratic normality" from "the politics embodied in the Government and Parliament." He applauds the pardons as "a brave and intelligent decision" but warns that "they haven't been enough to restore political pluralism and plurinationality."

What About the Referendum?

Pisarello's article appears 48 hours before Junts's decision on potential support for the progressive majority of the Congress Board. Sumar is aware of the risk that Junts's radical sector might end up influencing Puigdemont's decision. Hence, they are stepping on the gas to attract them to their side.

The problem is that Junts's most radical sector has already made it clear that amnesty alone won't be enough. For Puigdemont's hard core, the crux of the matter lies in the referendum. And on this issue, Sumar still hasn't made their position clear.

Between Yolanda Díaz's denial and En Comú-Podem's enthusiasm, Sumar has opted for a consensus solution. They defend the consultation in Catalonia but only on the agreements that come out of the dialogue table. In any case, it is clear that Díaz has become the glue to unite PSOE and Junts.