We can, United Left (IUC) and Yes we can (SSP) will run together for the first time in an election in Santa Cruz of Tenerife with the aim of promoting “a historic change” in the municipality. The confluence for the elections of the May 28 will bear the name of United Yes We Can.
The presentation of this alliance took place this Saturday in the gardens of Parque Viera y Clavijo, in a press conference that included the participation of the mayoral candidate, Ramón Trujillo (IUC), from Dolores Espinosa (Podemos), who will go at number 2, and Ignacio González (SSP), who will occupy number 4. The first three positions in the candidacy (the third is Luisa Tamayo, from IUC) are already part of the municipal corporation in this term, integrating the group of United We Can (Podemos-IU).
As reported in a statement, representatives and members of the three political groups were also present at this event, among whom were the regional coordinator of Podemos, Laura Fuentes; the general coordinator of IUC, Luisa Tamayo, and the administrator of SSP, Pedro Fernández Arcila.
The head of the United Sí Podemos list, Ramón Trujillo, stressed that with this agreement between the three formations of the alternative left “it will be guaranteed that next May no progressive vote in Santa Cruz will be left without representation,” at a time when that the polls indicate that the left and right-wing blocs are very even in voting intentions. For this reason, he called for the mobilization of the progressive electorate so that they understand that the vote for United Yes We Can is the one that represents “the space for transformation” and that they can decide political change, as happened in 2019, when United We Can promoted that CC went to the opposition, until a year later it regained power with a motion of no confidence thanks to the support of a defecting councilwoman.
Trujillo emphasized that if this new confluence manages to govern in Santa Cruz “it will carry out historic changes, with its feet on the ground and with very concrete proposals”, since it is about three parties “sensible, with a history, linked to the citizenry, with knowledge of public institutions” and with a “proven commitment” in the fight against political corruption in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
Dolores Espinosa highlighted that with this alliance to which the SSP has joined, “the public has been listened to, since it was a social outcry for the left to join.” For the councilwoman and candidate to revalidate this position, “Santa Cruz needs more ambitious policies in terms of public housing, to improve social care for the most vulnerable people, and to put an end to inequality between the neighborhoods and the center, since it seems that there is first, second and third class neighborhoods. Espinosa also renewed her commitment against corruption: “In 2019 we said that we were going to raise the rugs and we will continue to raise them.”
On behalf of Sí se Puede, Ignacio González expressed his satisfaction with this political agreement, because for his party “municipalism is very important” and now a stage is opening in which “there is a lot of work to be done in Santa Cruz” to attend to the demands of the citizens, a process in which the three organizations will make “many concrete, viable and exciting proposals”.
“We want a city for the people, who are the center of policies, and that all the neighborhoods, which are many, have the same possibilities,” stressed the representative of the ecosocialist organization.
González emphasized that the population must be given “the necessary tools for active participation” in public affairs, so he advocated “participatory, co-responsible citizenship, which is not limited to voting every 4 years.”
In the 2019 municipal elections, Unidas Podemos was the third most voted political force in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, with 9,289 supports (10.62% of the total), and obtained three representatives in the corporation while Sí se Puede was left behind. the gates of obtaining representation, with 3,847 votes (4.4% of the total), for which the three organizations added more than 15% of the votes in the past elections.
