Yolanda Díaz Goes After the Pro-independence Vote

Yolanda Díaz already demonstrated in the three-way debate this Wednesday that she has no intention of disputing the left-wing space with PSOE. Instead, she wants to take advantage of the final stretch of the campaign to scrape votes from the independence movement. This way, Sumar accepts the head-to-head challenge posed mainly by ERC.

PSOE/PSC and Sumar have been Gabriel Rufián's major obsessions throughout the electoral campaign. Yolanda Díaz, who had so far avoided the referendum issue, suddenly brings it up as an electoral banner.

Sumar Competes for Space with Esquerra

Sumar held its central campaign event this Thursday at the Farga de l'Hospitalet in Barcelona. From there, its candidate Yolanda Díaz committed to allowing Catalans to vote on an agreement arising from the dialogue table. "When we have an agreement, Catalans will be able to vote," she said.

Díaz has claimed her formation as "the useful vote of the left in Catalonia," including the spectrum of progressive independence. "Only with a strong Sumar can we stop the right and the far right in the Spanish State," she said. An idea exactly the same as that proposed by Gabriel Rufián with ERC.

Surrounded by two thousand faithful, Yolanda Díaz appealed to sensitive elements of Catalanism such as language. "Go out to vote in defense of our languages," she said in reference to the "offensive" of PP and Vox in Valencia and the Balearic Islands.

The Logic of Borrowed Independence Vote

Sumar starts from the idea that in Catalonia a part of ERC's electorate may opt for Yolanda Díaz as the useful vote. Rufián has repeatedly stated that they are the only option to stop PP and Vox. But the reality is that if PSOE and Sumar do not come close to an absolute majority, Esquerra's deputies will be of no use.

Therefore, two days before the elections, Sumar's candidate reaffirmed her commitment to a consultation with Catalans. She still doesn't clarify her position on a self-determination referendum, which she initially rules out. But she makes a nod to the dialogue table, which is ERC's great bet to solve the territorial conflict.