Irene Montero, the Podemos candidate for the European elections and former Minister of Equality, believes that appointing Yolanda Díaz as the leader of the political space to the left of the PSOE in 2021 was a mistake. During an interview on the program “Otro enfoque” aired on Cuatro on Wednesday night, when asked if it was a good choice, Montero responded that “time has shown it was not.” The decision to appoint Díaz as his successor was made and publicly announced by Pablo Iglesias, Montero’s partner, on the same day he resigned from his position as vice president of the government on March 15, 2021. Díaz, who was the Minister of Labor, was never formally elected as a member of Unidas Podemos, although she assumed the leadership of the left of the PSOE from that moment; in July 2022, she launched the platform “Sumar” and ran in the general elections of 2023, but was not officially proclaimed as general coordinator until March of this year. Iglesias himself has stated on several occasions in the last two years that the decision to bet on her was a mistake as the relationship between Díaz and Podemos deteriorated over time.
Montero, who ceased to be a minister after the 2023 general elections, states that she has already “moved on” from her departure from the government. When asked how she felt after Sumar decided not to include her on their lists in those elections, the Podemos leader assures that she has also moved on from that, but acknowledges that she felt “hurt” to see her former colleagues abandoning her. She believes this sends a message to society that the enemy will attack you and those who should be your comrades will abandon you. Montero considers that the government wanted to leave her “alone” to face the problems that arose during her term and the attacks from the opposition, and that she only felt supported by her Podemos colleagues and the ministry team. She has blamed Pedro Sánchez, who is “the one in charge,” for her departure from the government. Montero believes Sánchez did not want to take the political cost of making feminist advances, as evidenced by him challenging what was the government’s identity during the 23-J campaign.
The Socialist leader, according to the current European elections candidate, chose to equate being a feminist in the institution with doing nothing, while reproaching Podemos for having gone “too far” with a discourse that “bothered his friends.” Montero also criticized the PSOE for trying to undermine the credibility of the laws promoted by Podemos in the field of Equality. She mentioned that they spoke of laws being shoddy, of the girls in the ministry… Even when they were promoting laws, people would sometimes scoff and say, “that law will not be approved, the trans law will not pass.” Montero highlights that what affects someone the most is what happens closest to them, and she encourages people not to miss anything by subscribing for updates.
