Posts Tagged ‘Podemos’
Spain: Left Reactions to the Election Results.
Hope Vanquished Fear: Izquirda Unida (part of the Sumar left Platform).
Election in Spain: PP wins, PSOE resists and the right-wing bloc falls short of majority (El País)
The mainstream conservatives and far-right Vox together have 169 seats, while the Socialists and Sumar obtain a combined 153, both short of the 176-seat threshold.
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“There were many people who were worried, and tonight they will sleep more calmly,” said Yolanda Díaz, the candidate for Sumar, in her first public reaction after the election. Meanwhile, Santiago Abascal, the Vox leader, warned followers that, based on this outcome, “Pedro Sánchez, even after losing the election, could still block the formation of a government.”
These results are then anything but decisive. Yet what is good is that the right, PP, the far right, Vox, secured no proper majority. Some are speculating the PSOE, the Spanish moderate left, may align not just with their existing partners in the left bloc Sumar but with the regionalist nationalist parties Catalan Republican Left Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, ERC.
Former UK Labour Prime Minister, Gordon Brown in the Guardian last week, published this, Spain’s election is a key battle in the Europe-wide struggle against neofascism. If the anti-feminist, anti-migration Vox seizes power, this will embolden the far right in Germany, Finland and beyond. His article appeared in the Spanish Huffington Post, “Un ex primer ministro británico se pronuncia en términos MUY claros sobre la posible llegada de Vox al poder.” It was also published in Le Monde, where fears about alignments between the right (Les Républicains) and the far-right Rassemblement National exist, Gordon Brown, ex-premier ministre britannique : « La capitulation des conservateurs espagnols face à l’extrême droite aurait des répercussions sur tout le continent » and in Libération.
Brown wrote, “If the bloc of rightist parties ends up ahead of Sánchez, the near-50-year political taboo against neofascist parties in power will be broken. Vox will have moved from a gang of backstreet demagogues to the Spanish cabinet room, creating a political earthquake that will be felt right across the continent in the year of Spain’s presidency of the European Union.”
He continued, “What, as Orbán has admitted, gives permission to the right to fight culture wars is that neoliberal versions of globalisation have failed, denying working people security in a volatile world. Multiple crises, from falling living standards to worsening pollution, must convince us that no return to the normality of a failed status quo is possible.
There is a positive, progressive, Europe-wide social and economic policy agenda revolving around rising living standards, championed by Sánchez, that needs to be advanced with conviction. And we must not forget, as George Orwell wrote in another era, that only “a moral effort” can defeat xenophobic nationalism. The alternative cannot be countered. “Fixing on homosexuals, blaming women for gender-based violence, suggesting a ban on political parties,” as Pedro Sánchez has said from the heat of the battle: “All that has a name that doesn’t need to be spelled out.”
Vox’s losses are more than sufficient to make it “weaker”. They lost 19 seats in the legislative assembly, the Congreso de los Diputados
| Vox (Vox) | 3,033,744 | 12.39 | –2.68 | 33 | –19 |
Reborn from the ashes, the PSOE.
There are no doubt many criticisms one can make of the PSOE (going back to their past, and the period when Felipe González led them, 1979-1997). They have not won a victory as such. Sumar seems an attractive left bloc, and is not associated with the overambitious and often contentions left populist’ claims of the old Podemos (whose fragmentation would take a book to describe). An interesting interview in Jacobin a couple of days ago covers them (though not a balance-sheet of their predecessors in Podemos, Podemos Unidas and that complex personal and political history) Spain’s Left Is Fighting Back Against the Rise of the Far Right AN INTERVIEW WITH TXEMA GUIJARRO.
Jacobin, whose interest in European politics is welcome, is not always a reliable source. They also carry supportive piece, Spain’s Election Is a Key Test for the Catalan Left, on the Catalan self-identifying left bloc of more borders nationalists, Candidatura d’Unitat Popular, CUP). The platform lost its 2 national MPs,
Popular Unity Candidacy–For Rupture (CUP–PR) | 98,794 | 0.40 | –0.61 | 0 | –2 |
People can oppose Vox’s Francoist centralism without backing the politics of erecting new state frontiers of these groups.
There are many developments underway and the future is uncertain, even another possible General Election, may be on the cards. Negotiations over a possible continuing left governments are underway.
The moderate right El Mundo is now reporting the demands (and threats as a the Daily calls them, or strong bargaining tactics) by the larger nationalist groups, the right of centre Junts (Catalonia) and the Basque PNV, “Las exigencias independentistas a Sánchez: Junts presiona con la amenaza de bloqueo y el PNV pide “decisiones estratégicas” para Euskadi y Cataluña.”
Labour Hub has an informative piece by Alex Colás Spain’s left fights back, which notes, “The results are nonetheless full of paradoxes and at least one familiar certainty. The Socialist Party did especially well in Catalonia at the expense of left separatists, but the seven deputies from the centre-right independentists, Junts per Catalunya (Together for Catalonia), now have the power to facilitate a minority government led by the incumbent premier Pedro Sánchez.”
Colás adds,
Born with the legacy of a much-diminished Podemos and the associated infighting for political scraps, Sumar has grown in stature during the campaign, positing itself as a radical left alternative for 3 million voters across much of Spain, roughly the same as Unidas Podemos did at the previous general election. Sumar still lacks a meaningful presence in the rural areas outside the traditionally leftist heartlands of Andalucía, and will now have to manage its precious electoral capital equitably among its many and diverse ideological families. But faced with the real prospect of political oblivion after the last local and regional elections, Yolanda Díaz and her supporters can rightly be proud of the radical left now still having a chance at building another progressive government in the coming months.
From our distance this at least looks probable. People will class the book Podemos: In the Name of the People Chantal Mouffe Inigo Errejon, Preface Owen Jones, (2016) which talked of the prospects of building a “new political identity” around Podemos, forming, “the nucleus of a national-popular will” and the “foundations of a new historical bloc” as a curiosity. It could be put on the shelves next to The Italian Road to Socialism: An Interview by Eric Hobsbawm with Giorgio Napolitano (1977).
Spain: rise of the far right, collapse of Podemos in Spanish local elections and snap General Election.
“The problem with the populist strategy, for the left, is that it’s neither left nor a winning strategy.” – Left-wing populism. A legacy of defeat: Interview with Éric Fassin. 2018.
Podemos: In the Name of the People (2016) by Íñigo Errejón and Chantal Mouffe, offered the Spanish party as an example of successful left populism. In the December 2015 Spanish General election, Podemos had received 21% of the vote and became the third largest party in the parliament, with 69 out of 350 seats. Owen Jones in 2016 called them a “model” ” Podemos has won support for radical ideas without creating scapegoats”. Chantal Mouffe talked of its ability to work with “libidinal investment at work in national – or regional – forms of identification.”(For a Left Populism. Chantal Mouffe. 2018). In April 2019 the party lost 29 seats and fell to the 4th place below the centre right Ciudadanos. In the November 2019 Spanish general election, the party lost 7 more seats, falling in 4th place.
Podemos suffered a split in 2019 with Errejón leaving and putting his energy into a deferent political vehicle,
On January 17, the fifth anniversary of the creation of Podemos, two of its leading founders publicly confirmed the fracture of the left-wing party.” Íñigo Errejón, a top official at the group that he helped transform from an anti-austerity movement into a national force with parliamentary and institutional presence, on Thursday announced his decision to run for the Madrid regional premiership at the May election in alliance with Más Madrid, the party created by the mayor of the Spanish capital, Manuela Carmena.” (El Pais) Podemos founder Pablo Iglesias left politics altogether in 2021 “shortly after Unidas Podemos’ poor performance at the ballots”.
Chantal Mouffe continues to promote ‘left populism’ and remains credited with having had some influence (the extent of which is contested) on La France insoumise and Jean-Luc Mélenchon. In her most recent book Mouffe claims that LFI, Podemos and the Labour Party did badly in elections when they “abandoned their previous left populist strategy” (Page 4, Towards a Green Democratic Revolution. 2022).
In these local and regional elections Podemos got 3,2 % of the vote The power of what Mouffe calls “affects”, emotional ties, (drawing on Frédéric Lordon concepts going back to some readings of Spinoza) may be seen in the rise in Spain of the far right Vox, but there is little sign of “the creation of a broad coalition of movements under the banner of a ‘Green Democratic Revolution'” in Spain or elsewhere in the post-pandemic era. Indeed it could be argued that the problem for the left posed by the rise of the far-right, which in Spain has campaigned against migration, and got 7,18 % is greater than can be met by calls to construct the ‘people’ a new “we” against the ‘oligarchy’. The last thing needed is another voice, that is Mouffe’s, railing against ‘rationalism’ when irrationalism, from conspiracy theories, confusionist red-brown groups, to the racist right, is on the rise.
The rght-wing Spectator carries this article.
What the rise of Vox means for Spain Jim Lawley.
These elections then suggest that Vox may be a highly influential (albeit junior) partner in the central government after the general election which, it has just been announced, will be held on 23 July. At present it is the third-strongest party in the national parliament with 52 of the 350 seats, while the Partido Popular is the second-strongest with 88 seats. These two right-wing parties already govern in coalition in the Castile-León region and if, as now seems likely, they can join forces in July to oust Spain’s fragile Socialist-led government, they doubtless will.
Spain calls snap general election after right, far-right, inflict heavy local and regional defeat. The Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party suffered a dramatic electoral reverse in local and regional elections held on Sunday, triggering an equally dramatic response from Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. (El Pais)
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Vox is no longer a hypothesis but a growing reality, according to Sunday’s results. The PP has also bounced back since 2019, when the party obtained its worst-ever results in both the general and regional elections. Now, the prospect of the PP governing in coalition with Vox is not something abstract, but almost a certainty.
Podemos also suffered substantial losses, including losing all 10 of its representatives in the Madrid regional parliament.
Spain’s PM calls snap election after opposition triumphs in local polls.
Eyes will now turn to Podemos and Sumar, the new leftwing platform led by the labour minister and deputy prime minister, Yolanda Díaz, to see whether the two groups join forces to fight the election.
Podemos suffered disastrous results on Sunday as its support collapsed in key regions. The party’s leader, Ione Belarra, went on the offensive on Monday, describing the PP and Vox as a “reactionary wave” that would seek to cut public services, bring in privatisation and reverse the progress the coalition government had made on tackling the climate emergency, improving housing and protecting social rights.
Sumar, a New Left Initiative in Spain, Makes Waves.
“Voy a recorrer España con alegría, y no voy a hablar, voy a escucharos.”
Going to Cross Spain with Joy, not to Talk but to Listen.
Spain: labour minister launches new political movement. RTL.
Spain’s popular Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz Friday launched a new leftist political movement ahead of general elections expected in late 2023, vowing a new way of doing politics.
Diaz said she would go on a nationwide listening tour to gather ideas about what people want for the country, and then decide whether it would take part in the next polls with her at the helm.
“In this citizens’ movement, I am just one more piece. You are the protagonists and if you want I will step up,” she told a crowd of around 5,000 people gathered at a Madrid cultural centre.
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Diaz currently represents the far-left Podemos party, the junior partner in Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s minority coalition government.
Polls consistently indicate she is Spain’s most popular politician.
As labour minister, she was responsible for a recent labour reform which is credited with a sharp fall in the number of temporary job contracts.
She also oversaw a generous job furlough scheme at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, which ensured people had an income even when large parts of the economy were closed due to lockdowns.
The launch of the new political movement comes as both the Socialists and Podemos have slumped in the polls, with Spain battered by high inflation as is the case across Europe.
Yolanda Díaz presenta Sumar como movimiento ciudadano que busca “un nuevo contrato social”.
El País.
“Sumar (to join, add together) is now a reality, and it began with a successful call that overwhelmed its organisers. Several thousand people stood, in the sun, on a hot Friday afternoon, in a square of the Matadero cultural centre in Madrid, to listen to Yolanda Díaz and acclaim her to shouts of “president”.
She dedicated a first speech to them and encouraged everyone to participate in a “new social contract, in which the hyper-rich have to contribute like everyone else”, which implies “expanding democracy to the world of the economy, to the companies, to taxes”. “I know that many of you cannot make ends meet, which is why taxes and economic democracy are more important than ever. It is impossible to understand that a self-employed person pays more taxes than a large technology corporation. It is not fair that the electricity companies cover themselves at the expense of more than five million poor people or that 80% of the personal income tax is supported by the workers”, insisted the vice president in the presentation of a bold progressive project. “
This marks the launch of the long-announced and postponed “citizen listening process” that will serve as the basis for a political project. “There were no party logos, the leaders of the political formations that support this initiative were not there. And it was not a usual rally. The leading role on stage was for half a dozen people unknown to the general public, but with something to say about the central issues that Sumar will be in charge of: a climate activist, a digital entrepreneur, a rider (the word used in Spain delivery person/driver) —who is also a riders’ trade unionist —, an Amazon worker, a teacher, an immigrant care-worker, a public health worker dedicated to mental health, and others who entered by video, such as the actor Antonio de la Torre, the writers Bernardo Atxaga and Manuel Rivas or the singer Kiko Veneno.”
The Madrid event was the first of a series. “In parallel to the meetings with different groups, there will be at least 25 working groups in charge of synthesising the ideas extracted from the meetings, divided into thematic areas (health, education, culture, democratic quality or LGTBI rights, among others) and who will elaborate the documents that will serve as the basis for this future political project.”
Sumar OFFICIAL WEB SITE.
Background:
(adapted)
Sumar is a association or platform launched around the figure of Yolanda Díaz — Second Vice President and Minister of Labour and Social Economy of the Government of Spain — which will be used as a legal instrument for the general elections in Spain in 2023 . The platform was provisionally registered as an association on March the 28th, 2022 and announced publicly on May the 18th.
una nueva plataforma electoral que trascienda los partidos políticos, así como la marca Unidas Podemos,1314 con el objetivo de conseguir el apoyo de fuerzas ideológicamente cerradas como En Comú Podem Compromís y Más Madrid/Más País al tiempo que da un papel preponderante de la sociedad civil.
….a new electoral platform which goes beyond existing (left) political parties, such as the ‘brand’ Unidas Podemos (better known here as simply Podemos), with the objective of bringing together ideologically close groups such as the Catalan, plurinational (and anti-more borders Catalan nationalism) wing of Podemos’ alliances En Comú Podem, the Valencian green and leftist bloc La Coalició Compromís , and the important 2019 split from Podemos, Más País.
The left-wing alliance led by Díaz was welcomed by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez (Socialist, PSOE), who considered it important that the “progressive space” is in “better shape” so that his government can maintain and expand its majority in the coming weeks.9Although the term “Frente Amplio” (broad front) has been used frequently in the media to refer to Díaz’s platform, it has been commented that Díaz herself has rejected the use of this name due to its connections with similar labels used by left-wing populist alliances in Latin America .
Yolanda Díaz Pérez: Member of the Communist Party of Spain and member of Podemos , she was also a member and leader of Esquerda Unida – she disassociated herself from the formation in 2019–, whose lists she was part of in various electoral platforms in Galicia.
She is the founder and main image of the Sumar platform , which will run in the 2023 general elections in Spain.
Tendance Coatesy 