Podemos As Seen In December 2014

Illusion and Feasibility in Spanish Politics: Podemos?

Spain, with an unemployment rate of 24% and a youth unemployment rate of 53%, is also leader in the rankings of social inequality in the OECD and early school dropout in Europe. Moreover, the population has suffered from the beginning of the crisis huge social cuts in education, the health service and R&D at the same time as corruption has become a scourge affecting officials from virtually any party. For instance, Ana Mato, former Minister of Health and Social Services in the Rajoy cabinet (People's Party), who resigned in November 2014, or Jordi Pujol, embodiment of the Catalan independence movement and President of this region for 23 years. The lack of measures to solve these problems has resulted in a general sentiment of impunity and political disaffection throughout Spain.

This has been the breeding ground for a one-year-old political party, which has now reached the same share in opinion polls as the two big long-established Spanish parties. This party is Podemos (translated as "We can"). Who are them? How have they managed to do it? And, more importantly, what role will they play in the future of Spain and Europe?

Since a few years after the restoration of democracy in Spain -following dictator Francisco Franco's death in 1975-, the Spanish political landscape has been dominated by two parties: the right-wing People's Party (PP) and the centre-left Spanish Socialist Workers` Party (PSOE), which used to get a combined share of about 80% of the turnout.

But in January 2014 Podemos was born. Its origin is usually related with the so-called 15-M Movement or the Indignants Movement, originated in 2011 in the midst of the crisis aiming to promote a more participative democracy. The 15-M Movement was defined by its ways of action and the citizens' repoliticization; it lacked specific measures and avoided any political affiliation. But Podemos has also fed from other organizations, such as Anti-Capitalist Left.

Podemos describe themselves as a "method for the popular and citizens' power", a "popular initiative" which goes beyond the party itself, with the goal of "transforming the silent and wretched majority into a force of change". Podemos avoids identifying itself as left-wing, but the press generally categorizes it as left-wing or even far-left, frequently emphasising its anti-establishment view. They defend a fight of those down below united against those who Podemos calls "caste", the privileged ones. For this purpose, Podemos, in addition to the party's structure, is organised in "circles", decentralized assemblies which are based on citizens' participation.

Podemos has been able to effectively combine idealism and pragmatism, something essential to achieve a real social change. The clearest example of this pragmatism is that, instead of trying to promote plurality also in the leadership of Podemos, it is strongly dominated by Pablo Iglesias, a 36-years-old political scientist and university teacher with an excellent academic background. His media omnipresence, the pedagogic style, the use of a new political language and his easy speech, often faulted as populist, have been the basis of Podemos' success.

As a result, the Spanish political situation has changed. The threat posed by Podemos to the two-party system is inciting the traditional parties -PP, PSOE and IU- to redefine their posture and start a process of image renewal, including the use of social networks and a higher presence of younger officials. Moreover, we can realise the population's politicization: there is public interest in politics, noticeable when looking at the audience figures in many TV programmes to which Podemos members have attended. The hope of a change is the main instrument of the We-Can party.

Nevertheless, many sceptics consider this illusion will lead nowhere. One of the many reasons of this suspicion is the vagueness of the project, but perhaps the Spanish population wants a change irrespective of its nature. Regarding Podemos programme, its viability has also been highly criticized, especially due to the huge investment required to fund some of its economic measures, such as the re-structuration of the European debt, the establishment of maximum wage and basic income to people without resources. Another of the most recurring criticism against Podemos is its ideological link with Hugo Chávez's regime in Venezuela.

But Podemos is not so unique. Currently, all throughout Europe we can see a large increase of non-traditional parties which have also completely altered their national political landscapes; the most well-known are the Front National (France), The Five Star Movement (Italy), UKIP and Syriza (Greece). Some common features of these parties are their innovative speech and often a Manichean perception of reality: there is a clearly defined enemy to defeat, whether it is immigration, the EU or the "caste".

What does the future hold? In Spain there are Municipal Elections in May 2015 and then, in November, General Elections are expected to happen. Last opinion polls confirm that Podemos is already a consolidated party, so it will certainly play a major role in the elections. Furthermore, debates about hypothetical agreements between parties are the order of the day, although uncertainty about what might happen reigns over the society. Is the current political engagement promoted by Podemos something to last in the long-term? Is Podemos a feasible option to govern Spain?