Pablo Iglesias’ allies and former allies highlight his …

Leaders in Spain’s progressive field pointed to the legacy of former United We Can leader Pablo Iglesias, who resigned from politics following the setback of regional elections in Madrid. Más País MP Íñigo Errejón denounced the “intolerable personal harassment” suffered by his former party partner and appreciated the “fundamental role” he played in politics. In the same vein, the former leader and co-founder of Podemos spoke, Juan Carlos Monedero, who stressed that Iglesias was fed up with “the assault of the Spanish power apparatus”. Monedero recalled that Iglesias “changed the politics of this country” and, frustrated by the triumph of Isabel Díaz Ayuso, assured that “Spain is something more than Madrid”. For his part, the former mayor and leader of Now Madrid, now dissolved, Manuela Carmena, was more critical, pointing out that Iglesias “was not doing the policy demanded by society”, although he hopes that the cumbersome victory of the right will invite progressivism to “do deep thinking.”

With the 65 seats won by the People’s Party (PP), the conservative group adds more than the seats won by the three left-wing parties present in the elections. (PSOE, Más Madrid and Unidas Podemos), which total 58. Of the three, the worst unemployed was the PSOE, which with its 24 seats reduced those it had to 13 and tied with Más Madrid. United we can improve the results of 2019, which did not prevent the dismissal of Iglesias. After her resignation, the party leadership is an orphan, and who is running to assume it is the third vice-president of the government and current Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz.

At a congressional press conference, MP Íñigo Errejón underlined “the fundamental role played in Spain” by the person with whom he founded Podemos, Pablo Iglesias. “I can only wish him the best in this new stage. He has suffered intolerable personal harassment which must stop immediately, it should have stopped a long time ago,” said the chief of Más País.

Plus Madrid and their candidate, Mónica García, were one of Tuesday night’s surprises. Errejón tried to avoid the euphoria of Wednesday morning and limited himself to pointing out that his training will try to “stay the same”, working in Congress “on matters of everyday life”. He also pointed out that the party that split from Podemos in 2019 will continue “to sow a green political space for the future and a peripheral and left alternative, but attached to the territories”.

For its part, Juan Carlos wallet regretted the victory of the right-wing candidate of the PP, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, and underlined the position of Pablo Iglesias. “He had expressed his fatigue. It is not easy to endure for seven years the daily daily attacks of the apparatus of power in this country.”, underlined Monedero, evoking the persecution of justice and the media. The political scientist pointed out that despite the defeat, “improved United We Can’s result in Madrid”. Indeed, left-wing party added nearly 80,000 votes compared to 2019 vote, which makes it possible to go from seven to ten seats in the Parliament of Madrid.

In an interview with Channel 3 of Catalonia, Monedero said that Iglesias had made a “very honest analysis which contrasts sharply with what has always been raised, that he is only interested in posts and the like” because “he left the vice-presidency, went to fight in Madrid and now he leaves” politics. In this sense, for the former Spanish leader, the result “It shows how we said seven years ago that we weren’t in politics to stay“.

Regarding the re-elected president of the Community of Madrid, Monedero recalled that her management “of residences or of the pandemic was terrible: we have the greatest number of deaths and infections and the most collapsed ucis”. The co-founder of Pondemos stressed that the election results showed that “it was more effective to confront the central government than to review the administration of Díaz Ayuso”, and stressed that “The big concern is that from today we will see an attempt to set our country on fire”.

However Monedero remarked that “it is not extrapolated to the country” what happened in the Spanish capital. “What can serve Madrid, I think, is precisely what prevents the PP from governing in Spain. That is to say that When the banks took away the seat in Genoa, it wasn’t because they changed their seat, because they built it by stealing, but because they couldn’t pay it and the banks said : Since you won’t be ruling in Spain for a long time, give me back my headquarters ” insured.

As Former Madrid mayor Manuel Carmena said quitting Pablo Iglesias politics was something that saw itself coming. “For some time now, it had been evident that Iglesias was not doing the politics that society demanded.. He was aware that he was making a mistake and that he was taking a road in which it was very difficult to go back without being left out, ”he told the Channel 3 contact.

For the former director of Podemos The position taken by Mr. Iglesias, constantly speaking of fascism, without realizing the current situation of Spanish society, was “a major mistake”. Despite Díaz Ayuso’s huge triumph, the ex-Más Madrid member hopes the experience will help the left to think deeply. “You learn from mistakes and progress is made on the basis of mistakes, successes and rectifications,” he said.