• Madrid conflict is sixth regional challenge to leadership in recent months •
Nine members of anti-austerity party Podemos’ executive council in the Madrid region have resigned in protest over the “party’s direction” and in support of the abrupt resignation Monday of Emilio Delgado Orgaz, the third-ranked leader of the party in the Madrid region, who aired sharp criticism of a colleague closely allied with national Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias.
The open revolt by executive council members in Madrid coincided Wednesday with a communique from Podemos’ Anticapitalistas faction calling on party leader Iglesias to break off contact with the Socialist party (PSOE) in order to force new general elections. The regional party turmoil makes Madrid the sixth regional challenge that Podemos’ national leadership under Iglesias has confronted in recent months.
The nine Podemos members who resigned Wednesday said their departure from the executive council relates solely to the direction of the party in Madrid and not to any deeper conflict within Podemos. While news reports said nine who resigned are allied with Íñigo Errejón, the party’s number-two leader nationwide and Congress spokesperson, Errejón appeared to close ranks late Wednesday with Iglesias in mutually supportive Twitter messages.
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