• 12-J. The critical sector of Podemos asks Pablo Iglesias for responsibilities for the electoral "defeat"
  • We can. Pablo Iglesias has no shield: debacle in Galicia and the Basque Country despite governing
  • The party. The 'Dina case' uncovers six years of internal 'sewers' in Podemos

The Podemos that faced the elections in Galicia and the Basque Country was a formation, for the first time, 100% molded to the taste of Pablo Iglesias. A Pabloite Podemos , which has absolute control over it with little internal criticism or dissent, where the current Vice President of the Government contemplated the appointment with the ballot boxes sitting in the Council of Ministers, with a faithful party and autonomous leaderships and with some candidates put by Madrid.

Hence, many believe that not only was the political distribution in these regions at stake, but also the credit, influence and strength of the purple leader . The result -Podemos disappears in Galicia and loses almost half of deputies in the Basque Country- puts the personalist project of Churches in Podemos in check, and forces it to be revised, according to internal sources consulted by this newspaper.

The magnitude of the setback, the unexpectedness of the debacle - there was a drop, but not the collapse suffered, especially in Galicia - represents a serious setback to the personal project of Iglesias in Podemos and led to the imposition of a kind of law of silence in the formation.

Even the most loquacious leaders on social networks kept a resounding silence on Monday. Forced by her announced attendance at the MIR demonstration, only Isa Serra , the new spokesperson for Podemos , came out to show her face - Iglesias appeared on social networks on Sunday to assess the night. The official line followed, the need for "self-criticism" and "great reflection" without any specification.

But self-criticism is, for the moment, one more duty on the to-do list, without the label of urgency. The Training Executive did not meet to assess the results. She plans to do it this week. In Madrid they justify it in the fact that they wait for their directorates in Galicia and the Basque Country to first examine what has happened and then address the matter themselves.

The silence that pervades Podemos is the consequence of a formation where the passing of the years and the management of Iglesias and his team has meant the end of critical voices, of difference. Resignations, purges, confrontations ... That is why, they point out in the formation, that it is not expected that internal voices will be raised demanding responsibilities.

And this despite the fact that Podemos closes this electoral cycle of autonomous elections with a more than notable deficit of support: between the autonomous communities of 12 communities in 2019 and the two appointments on Sunday, more than 1.2 million votes are left in just four years and 88 deputies less. The training has disappeared in Cantabria, Castilla-La Mancha and Galicia.

In the Government, despite the debacle

Between the April 2019 generals and the November repeat, the purple coalition won 654,000 votes and seven deputies, for a total of 35 seats. A drop that, however, allowed Iglesias to fulfill his expectation of achieving the coalition with the PSOE.

Faced with this closing of ranks, criticism comes from outside, from those who were and were purged. "It is a very established trend: the more internal power monopolizes the current leadership, the more disastrous the results are," said Ramón Espinar , former party leader in Madrid.

"You cannot continue to blame eternally the failures on those who left, broke or got kicked out. The hit must be pointed at a party leadership that has wanted to control everything at the cost of turning Podemos into a site without anyone to bother them" .

For Nacho Escartín , former leader of Podemos in Aragón, "you have to assume responsibilities and, above all, define how to evolve so as not to repeat mistakes." In his analysis he also points to the accumulation of power of the current leaders as a problem. "The spaces for change are not useful if they are thought only as a place where a few people direct and manage, but must include the participation of many people."

Within Podemos there are voices that point to political strategy, to the discourse decided by Madrid, championed by Iglesias, regarding Galicia and the Basque Country. The formation assumed the role of being a "bridge" between the PSOE and the nationalists, making the claim of tripartites, of forming co-governments to unseat the PP and the PNV and achieve a share of power despite their decline, one of the central axes.

Voters have chosen to vote directly for nationalists and avoid the "bridge". And although the sum of Bildu, PSOE and Podemos would give to form a tripartite, the socialists say they reject ruling with Bildu and the result of Podemos makes it difficult for him to have the legitimacy to demand it.

The 'hole' of Podemos

An identical approach to that followed by Iglesias in the generals: a campaign to claim to be a partner of the Socialist Government. There are sectors that show their discomfort at the change in discourse: they argue that the party was born to be an alternative to the Government and now its speech is from a subsidiary force. To this they add that the negative results would show that the chosen path would not be the most suitable.

Galicia and the Basque Country have further exposed the great hole in Podemos: its territorial structure. Beyond Madrid, the game is in the bones. "Iglesias does not care about what happens outside Madrid," they comment from one territory.

That deficit, far from being corrected, is still present. The effort to "build an electoral war machine" and the claim to touch power in Madrid have separated this structure from the priorities. A deficit that already arose after the indentation of the autonomic ones of 2019, but that continues without solution, as Juan Carlos Monedero pointed out : "Podemos continues without dedicating the bulk of its energies to what it must: build a party."

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Know more

  • We can
  • Pablo Iglesias
  • Galicia
  • Galicia Elections
  • Basque Country
  • Basque Country Elections

Autonomous electionsPablo Iglesias has no shield: debacle in Galicia and the Basque Country despite ruling

12-JThe PSOE stagnates and does not extract revenue from the collapse of Podemos in the Basque Country and Galicia

12-JDisconcert in the PSOE for its stagnation and the collapse of Podemos

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