Electoral unity should not replace ideas

The PSOE and parties in the Sumar camp are considering standing together for the Senate, while ERC and EH Bildu have agreed to renew their coalition. Negotiations are ongoing and, according to media reports, not all the details or the final scope of the possible pacts are yet known. The stated aim is to strengthen their electoral chances and prevent a PP and Vox majority.

It is legitimate for parties to seek agreements. In a democracy, joining forces is part of political freedom, just as standing separately is. But an alliance is not convincing simply because the electoral system might reward it. Voters deserve to know what concrete commitments underpin it and what policies the candidates will defend, beyond the arithmetic of seats.

There is also a liberal lesson in this debate: electoral rules matter and should be understandable, stable and applied equally. When parties draw up their lists mainly with a view to maximising their representation, public debate risks being reduced to calculations by party leaders. If changes to the rules are proposed, they should be discussed openly and not treated as a tool to be altered depending on who expects to benefit.

Pacts also entail accountability to voters. Bringing forces together can prevent similar votes from going unrepresented, but it also requires parties to reconcile their programmes and share out positions. According to the information available, negotiations are ongoing; it cannot be assumed that a broad agreement has already been reached or that differences have been resolved. Private initiative and political diversity also have value: not every disagreement is an obstacle that must be removed in order to win.

Those who support unity can rightly argue that fragmentation harms representation and that a joint candidacy improves their chances. That is a respectable objection. But the aim should not be merely to add votes together: it should be to offer voters a clear proposal, constrain power through safeguards and accept that competition between ideas, even within the same political camp, is also healthy.