Compromís Steers Clear of a Split with Sumar but Will Reassess the Agreement with the Group This Week

Compromís avoids a breakup with Sumar but does not consider the crisis that began over 10 days ago with the group led by Vice President Yolanda Díaz to be resolved. After more than two hours of meeting, the Valencian coalition has agreed on the “necessary reevaluation of the pact with Sumar” this week. “The Executive Committee of Compromís has unanimously approved maintaining the proposal for the President of the Government to appear before the investigative commission on the DANA in Congress,” according to the statement issued by the party, which triggered the anger after Díaz’s group rejected including Pedro Sánchez in the list of those appearing before that body. Conversations between the parties of Compromís and the parliamentary group of Sumar had intensified in recent hours to find a resolution and avoid a divorce that would not be good for anyone at a time of weakness and division among the left.

The objective of this agreement review, the note to the media states, “will be to establish a new framework of relations that guarantees the full autonomy of the member parties and horizontal relationships,” in a “confederal group similar” to that of the previous legislative term.

“Compromís considers it essential to deploy all legislative and government oversight instruments, as well as to maintain a bilateral and direct relationship with the Executive at a crucial moment for Valencian society,” adds the statement, which reflects Compromís’s dissatisfaction with the current communication with the PSOE. The coalition refers to both the “demonstrated negligence of the Generalitat Government” in managing the DANA disaster and the “lack of agility of the central Government” in recovery efforts. The party announces it will propose “a change in the functioning of the plurinational group and will convey its bases and conditions to maintain this new relationship.”

The three formations of Compromís – Més, Iniciativa, and VerdsEquo – will therefore maintain the challenge to Sumar for the President of the Government to appear before the commission. “It is not a matter of maintaining a pulse with Sumar; it’s about understanding that a plurinational group must be capable of gathering the different sensitivities and needs that the various parties represent,” defended Més deputy, Àgueda Micó. This provisional solution also provides breathing room for the three partners of the Valencian coalition, who had entrenched themselves in antagonistic positions and have returned to “a common roadmap,” clarified Iniciativa parliamentarian, Alberto Ibáñez.

“This is the way we believe we can feel comfortable and be useful for the governance of the State while also defending the interests of Valencians,” added Micó. “I believe it is a balance we see as possible, and we hope that the political parties that are part of the Sumar parliamentary group understand it as well,” the deputy added, after confirming that they have communicated the Executive’s decision to their fellow lawmakers. In Sumar, they celebrate the decision, value the agreements, and emphasize their “respect” for the formation, which they describe as a “sister force.”

Hours before the start of the executive meeting and after the discussions extended throughout the weekend, Compromís had two options on the table, according to sources from the coalition. The Valencian confluence could resolve the crisis from within, assuming that the situation in the commission had been unlocked and redirecting the relations with Sumar, gaining autonomy and a voice of its own, or moving towards a scenario where the majority formation, Més, would leave for the Mixed Group, and Iniciativa del Poble Valencià would remain in Sumar, creating a fracture in the coalition. “An intermediate solution is being sought,” sources in Més indicated hours before. Ultimately, gaining time and reasons has been the solution chosen by the three members of the Valencian confluence.

In previous statements before the decisive meeting in Valencia, the leadership of Movimiento Sumar—the party aligned with Yolanda Díaz—expressed optimism regarding the resolution of the internal debate. As a warning, the party’s general coordinator, Lara Hernández, reminded that Compromís’s political objective should be to remove President Carlos Mazón from the Valencian institutions. “This objective will not be diverted by a lack of internal cohesion,” she concluded. Although Hernández did not want to reveal the details of the discussions, sources from Movimiento Sumar indicated that the group had proposed a plan to give its two deputies more visibility. This plan would involve giving more prominence to the Valencian agenda, which has gone almost unnoticed in a legislative term marked by amnesty, alleged corruption cases, and party fighting. No one, they repeated, was interested in a breakup, because with its departure, Compromís would not have achieved what it wanted (the appearance of Sánchez) and would end up fractured internally.