We can: his uncertain future after the failure of Pablo Iglesias in Madrid

A “political earthquake”. This refers to the Spanish media Event for the emergence of Podemos in March 2014. Four months after its founding, the leftist party won five seats in the European elections, becoming the fourth most voted community in Spain. More than 100,000 people signed up in the first 20 days after registration opened, making it the third largest political store in the country. In October it reached the second position with over 200,000.

In november 2014 Appeared as first party with the intention of direct votingAccording to the barometer of the Center for Sociological Research. A year later, in the 2015 general elections, the lists submitted by Podemos for Congress received 69 deputies, with 20.68% of the vote.

It has been one of the parties that formed Spain’s coalition government until 2020, after reaching an agreement with the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (Psoe). although The initial excitement seems to be over.

After confirming that the Purple formation received only 10 seats out of 136 – 7.21% of the vote – in the Madrid assembly elections last Tuesday, Pablo Iglesias, who has led the Purple Party since its inception seven years ago, announced that he would retire Of “institutional” politics.

“We have failed,” Iglesias admitted this week. “When you’re not useful, you have to know how to withdraw,” he said when communicating his departure.

Although it may seem that at the age of 42, his decision was taken a little early, but it was not surprising for many people. “Pablo Iglesias is a complex man who, with his intelligence, mixes a dose of altruism with others of pragmatism. They have a connection with Huge boast, which he handles in an epic way. Their going is in harmony with their life“, Assures Manuel Alkantara, political scientist and professor at Salmananka University.

“Podemos no longer has the same ability to generate political discussion, its mobilization is more or less cohesive and limited to a sort of electoral ‘floor’ with strong boundaries, but It is able to strengthen its institutional presence in the coalition with the government Centrally. This data is not trivial, as it is the first time that Spain has a coalition government since democratic governance was regained ”, he explains. The third Juan Ignacio Estevez, researcher of the Faculty of Political Science and Sociology of the University of Complutense, Madrid.

Podemos leads a coalition of parties known as United We Can, within which the Church and the United Left are the most representative. Although experts point out that it does not appear that there is any harm to the alliance, It is not known with certainty what will happen to Podemos’ interior.

“There is no doubt that Pablo Iglesias’ successor in political terms will be Yolanda Díaz, the current Labor Minister and third Vice President of the government. But Díaz is not a member of Podemos, but of the Communist Party of Spain. I think the leadership of the party would be considered one of the strong figures of Podemos, who is currently part of the government: Eoin Bellera, Minister of Social Rights and 2030 Agenda, or Irene Montero, current Minister of Equality, to give some examples. It will undoubtedly be a challengeEstevez warned.

Podemos faces a complex situation. Not only should it renew and consolidate internal leadership, but it is also necessary Find a way for your project to rebuild critical connective capacity. Experts believe this is important for United V, we can strengthen the profile of Yolanda Díaz, who has characteristics that make her a very attractive policy, precisely because she is not the same as the current leader is.

“Iglesias has exercised a very personal and strong leadership, in a way that prevented the emergence of other leaderships in his political movement. Some alternative leaders of Podemos, such as Erñigo Errejón, have left the party for this reason. Now it is possible that other leadership will emerge in United We Can and this is a positive result The third Augustine Ferraro, Professor of Political Science at the University of Salamanca. “As in Spain on the left, I think Pablo Iglesias’ leadership, as he himself stated, was more damaging than the already profitable factorDue to the strong concentration of attacks on his figure, he says.

However, Iglesias’ departure also has its disadvantages. He said, “Lack of a unified data can put the organization at risk. United we can expect that Yolanda Diaz will contest the presidential election with the hope of winning the government, he will become the future President of Spain. It is a challenge of important dimensions.