Leftist figures unite with Socialist Party to seek “alternative to hegemony of PP”

A group that includes former key figures from the United Left (IU) bloc will play an active role in the Political Conference due to be held this week in Madrid by the main opposition Socialist Party (PSOE).

The group counts on political figures with links to IU deputy Gaspar Llamazares, and has the support of former Judge Baltasar Garzón and the dean of Madrid’s Complutense University, José Carrillo.

All of the players involved have written an open letter to the PSOE, in which they claim that their “objective is to defeat the right, which is taking advantage of the crisis to push people toward unemployment and the marginalization of wide ranges of society, in particular the sectors that are weakest.”

The collective is going by the name of Espacio Abierto (or, Open Space), and already has the approval of the heads of the PSOE to take part in the debates at the Political Conference, which will be held this coming weekend.

They have made clear, however, that their objectives do not include any interference in the organization of the PSOE itself, but rather focus on the theoretical debates within the left, and the creation of an alternative to the ruling Popular Party (PP).

The group has already held discrete meetings with the second-in-command of the PSOE, Elena Valenciano, and many of its members will be present at the conference to take part in the debates.

The manifesto that the group has signed speaks of “a call for understanding between progressive sectors of society, and a call for social democrats to swing to the left, allowing for the configuration of an alternative to the current hegemony of the PP.”