Who will head the candidacy of the eco-sovereigntism of the Balearic Islands in the general elections

PalmaThe leadership of Ara Més is putting different names on the table to head the candidacy for the general elections on November 29th. The result will be submitted to a vote in the assemblies of the different formations that make it up during the coming weeks.

Vicenç Vidal has been the first deputy that the eco-sovereigntists have ever achieved in the Congress of Deputies. Elected in 2023 within the Sumar MÉS coalition, he is attached to the plurinational group Sumar and since this month of January he has been its deputy spokesperson on the Board of Spokespersons. His role during the current legislature has also generated internal debate regarding the convenience of MÉS's continuity within the coalition with Sumar. "He is a logical name in the running to head the Ara Més candidacy" in the next general elections, although formal conversations to know if Vidal wants to continue or if the political formation considers him have not yet taken place.

It is also not clear if the formation would bet on a name that was not from Mallorca, since the coalition is also integrated by MÉS per Menorca and Ara Eivissa. Some voices, in this line, have proposed names from the other islands.

Likewise, taking into account that the spokesperson for Ara Més is Carme Gomila, it could not be ruled out that she would be another of the options, although there would be different profiles under deliberation. All in all, the candidacy is not closed and party sources assure that "it has not been discussed within the MÉS bodies". Now it will be up to the supra-island formation to make the formal proposal of the candidacies.

Conversations with Esquerra Unida and Podem

Ara Més has set a firm boundary to the requests of other left-wing parties to form a joint candidacy: they will only do so if they join under the umbrella of this coalition, and they have already explicitly stated that they will only accept an alliance if they lead the electoral list. The current representation in all local, island, and regional institutions by MÉS per Mallorca would be one of the main advocates for this argument.

The supra-island formation has already announced that they will not participate in the Broad Front, which is "absolutely ruled out," and that their project "as sovereignist parties" is within the framework of the Balearic Islands. Sources from the political formation integrated by MÉS per Mallorca, Més per Menorca, and Ara Eivissa state that "we would talk both with the Broad Front—which here is basically Esquerra Unida—and with Podem of the Balearic Islands, but from the Balearic Islands." The goal is clear: to form an Ara Més–Esquerra Unida–Podem coalition, as existed at the time with Progressistes per les Illes, but it would be a coalition specifically constituted in the Balearic Islands.

Ara Més has already received the proposals from Esquerra Unida and Podem, the path of negotiation has already begun. This matter will be one of those addressed at the meeting that Ara Més has scheduled for this Wednesday. Under the Ara Més candidacy, they aspire to unite the "progressive forces" of the Islands to guarantee a "better future" for the citizens of the Balearic Islands.

This was confirmed this Wednesday in a press conference by the spokesperson for Ara Més, Carme Gomila, who assured that they have "the conviction that these elections are a historic opportunity" and in which they have asked that they not be faced "from fear and resignation, but with hope and joy." Gomila has proposed the country that the eco-sovereignist political formation wants to build for the generations to come, for which they see "reasons for hope with a political project rooted in the territory of the Balearic Islands."

Ara Més has given the go-ahead this Wednesday to the will to run not as a soup of acronyms, but by heading the candidacy. One of the main challenges will be choosing the person who must be number one on the ballot for the electoral district of the Balearic Islands representing these progressive forces. Several names are already on the table, and as every time elections are called, the speculation has already begun.