The president of Las Kellys, Myriam Barros, has gone from aspiring to be Somos' candidate for the Cabildo to running in the Podemos primaries for Congress. "I wasn't going to compete with Tomás López", Barros pointed out in statements to La Voz, stating that she has decided to make the leap to the purple formation because the general secretary of Podemos in the Canary Islands, Noemí Santana, proposed it to her, who in turn will be the party's candidate for the presidency of the Government of the Canary Islands.
Barros ran in the 2015 elections on the Somos list for the Yaiza City Council and last October she told this media outlet that she would repeat with this party. "I'm going with them and my intention is to run for the Cabildo", said the president of Las Kellys at the time, stating that she had "no preference" for leading the list or being number two or three". "I simply want to support this project, because I believe in it and because I sympathize a lot with Somos and I like the line they are following and how they are working", she added then.
However, Myriam Barros has stated that she finally rejected presenting her candidacy to the Cabildo when she confirmed "that Tomás López was going to present himself as head of the list". "Because I am delighted that it is Tomás and I am not going to compete with him, of course not. And yes, I could have been offered to be on his list, but this came up", said the president of Las Kellys, referring to the Podemos proposal, although she also pointed out that she received offers "from other parties".
"It is a change to another party but it is known that there will be a confluence"
Regarding the reason for her change, Myriam Barros has pointed out that "it is simple". "I have spoken with Tomás from Somos and I believe that I have more tools in Congress than in the Cabildo of Lanzarote", said the president of Las Kellys, also pointing out that although "it is a change to another party, it is known by everyone that there will be a confluence". "And here what we are trying to do is add forces from the left to try to make a change", said Barros, who pointed out that it was "after" the election of Tomás López as a candidate for the Cabildo when she spoke with him.
Regarding the initial idea of running with Somos Lanzarote for the Cabildo, Barros has assured that "it was the party" who offered it to her, although she did not want to specify with whom she had conversations. "It is her decision what she has proposed", pointed out the secretary of Politics and Institutional Activity of Somos Lanzarote, Borja Rubio, who acknowledged the party's intention to count on Myriam Barros. "We have always extended a hand to Las Kellys to participate within Somos", he said, pointing out that nothing had been closed yet.
The primaries to form the Podemos lists for Congress and the Senate will be held from December 15 to 20 and, although the final lists will not be published until this Thursday, the current deputies Meri Pita and Carmen Valido have also presented their candidacies for the province of Las Palmas.
Regarding the possible confluence between Podemos and Somos Lanzarote, negotiations are still open and for the moment each formation has already chosen its candidates, at least provisionally until an agreement is reached to negotiate joint lists. In the case of the Cabildo, Somos has supported Tomás López to repeat and Podemos chose Nona Perera, while in the Arrecife City Council Somos has designated Lidia Pla as head of the list and the purple formation still has to hold primaries to elect its candidate.
