Definition of Podemos (Political Party)

Podemos is a formation politics Spanish that began its project at the beginning of 2014 and that since then has achieved good electoral results at the municipal, regional, national and European levels (In the general elections of December 2015 it has achieved a parliamentary representation of 69 deputies out of a total of 350, 20.66% of the votes issued). This means that this political party has changed the traditional bipartisanship between the PSOE and the PP during the last three decades in Spain.

As for the emergence of Podemos, there are several factors that explain this phenomenon: the economic crisis, the weather corruption, a popular feeling of indignation at the country's progress and the yearning for a new way of doing politics.

Originally, Podemos emerged from a radical left-wing political formation, the Capitalist Left. The group of leaders who founded it was made up of professors from the Complutense University of Madrid, trade unionists, social activists and intellectuals. Among them, its main leader and media character, Pablo Iglesias, stand out.

Ideological approach and proposals

Podemos is to the left of the PSOE, the social democratic party that has ruled Spain in alternation with the conservative Popular Party. Some of their proposals are the following:

- Fight corruption and promote transparency in political activity.

- Prioritize public services, especially health, education and social services (Podemos leaders often say that they want to govern for the people).

- Delve into the democracy promoting new ways of participation citizenship and a new political culture (lower salaries for politicians, popular consultations or the prohibition of so-called revolving doors).

- Activate a citizen rescue plan (combating evictions, rescuing small companies, increasing the minimum salary or implanting a law from emergency Social).

- A tax system based on the progressivity of taxes, on a reform of the wealth tax, on new environmental taxes and on the fight against tax fraud.

Although Podemos is leading a significant change in the way of understanding politics, this formation also receives harsh criticism

1) is considered by some to be left-wing populism,

2) has had connections with the Bolivarian regime of Venezuela, has been accused of being financed by the regime Iranian and some of its leaders have made controversial statements about the Catholic Church or ETA terrorism,

3) We can defend the right self-determination of Catalonia and in this sense receives harsh criticism from the constitutionalist parties.

Photos: iStock - nobelio / ericcrama