CHA-Frente Amplio Aragón drops Teruel Congress list, IU and Azcón object

The decision

On Wednesday, 21 October, Jorge Pueyo, president of Chunta Aragonesista (CHA), announced that the CHA-Frente Amplio Aragón coalition will not run a Congress candidacy in Teruel for the general election on 29 November. In that province the coalition will contest only the Senate. Pueyo said the choice aims to avoid splitting the progressive vote and to secure a progressive majority in both chambers, and he described the context as one of extreme polarization. The coalition will concentrate its Congress effort on Zaragoza and Huesca. Pueyo also said an extraordinary national committee, the party's highest body between assemblies, will meet on Friday, 23 October, to choose who heads the Zaragoza Congress list.

Izquierda Unida pushes back

Izquierda Unida (IU) Aragón rejected the move the same day. Its general coordinator, Marta Abengochea, called it a 'despropósito' and warned that leaving Teruel without a left-wing alternative would be a serious mistake. IU says its Congress and Senate candidacies in all three Aragonese provinces have been set since 13 October, and it will do everything possible to secure a list in Teruel. Abengochea made the case that a party should not stand only where its seats look secure.

“We cannot run only where we believe our representation is guaranteed. Political responsibility means being where it is hardest.”

Dani Palomo, IU's coordinator in Teruel, asked whether people from Teruel were being treated as second-class Aragonese. IU also accused CHA of adopting the useful-vote framework promoted by the PSOE.

CHA defends the coalition agreement

On Thursday, 22 October, CHA secretary general Verónica Villagrasa answered IU in the corridors of the Aragonese regional parliament, where a plenary session was being held. She pointed to the coalition agreement with Frente Amplio, which gives CHA the final say over the constituencies it contests, and said militants in the Teruel comarcas had asked to run only for the Senate. Villagrasa tied the decision to the electoral growth of Vox, a national situation she said had never occurred before, and argued that CHA aims to ensure the far right enters Congress with the smallest possible force. She also said the Teruel question is separate from the Senate deal with the PSOE. If IU wants a Teruel candidacy, she added, the matter would go to the working table shared by the Frente Amplio parties.

Azcón and the parliamentary clash

On Thursday, 22 October, Aragon president Jorge Azcón used a housing session, requested by CHA to demand explanations on the regional government's refusal to process applications for stressed residential market zones, to attack Pueyo's decision. He asked whether the people of Teruel were second-class citizens for CHA and suggested that an undisclosed pact or shared seats might lie behind the withdrawal, without offering evidence.

“You have sold your principles and your values, and on top of that you are going to be left without the seats.”

Pilar Alegría later intervened to defend the electoral pact of the progressive parties. Pablo Bustinduy, the minister of Social Rights who took over as Frente Amplio spokesperson on Wednesday, 21 October, urged parties to stop discussing lists and internal matters and to focus on housing, pensions and wages.

Other parties and what comes next

Aragón Existe announced on Thursday, 22 October, that it will not run in Zaragoza or Huesca for the general election, prioritising the municipal elections in May. Its coordinator, Valero Aguayos, who is also mayor of Estada in Huesca, said the goal is the best possible result in those municipal elections. Teruel Existe will still stand in Teruel. Aguayos had proposed on 9 October an alliance of Aragonese parties and had explicitly ruled out the Frente Amplio. The withdrawal could help the left in Zaragoza, where CHA and Frente Amplio hope to keep their deputy, while options in Huesca are limited. The committee on Friday, 23 October, and the talks between IU and its coalition partners on Teruel remain open ahead of the vote on 29 November.