• En Marea, Compromís & En Comú Podem consider break from Podemos
• Move would give regional groups separate budget, privileges in Congress
Anti-austerity party Podemos’ regional coalition allies under the banners of En Marea in Galicia, Compromís in Valencia and En Comú Podem in Catalonia are reportedly mulling formation of a three-way party to run together in anticipated general elections in June, a move that would enable them to form their own parliamentary group with an independent voice and a budget separate from Podemos in the next Congress.
Only 39 of the 69 seats Podemos initially claimed to have won in the Dec. 2015 general election actually corresponded solely to the anti-austerity party, with most of the other 30 seats corresponding to the candidacies of various other parties within the three regional coalitions. Having pledged it would help each of the regional coalitions to obtain separate budgets and debating rights as independent parliamentary groups within Congress, Podemos was unable to deliver on the pledge when other parties in Congress united to vote against the move.
Now, Barcelona mayor Ada Colau’s Barcelona En Comú movement has confirmed it is in talks with other parties in the Catalan coalition to run independently from Podemos should a new general election be called for June 26th, while the principal parties within Compromís and En Marea have reportedly asked to initiate conversations with the Catalans to form a three-way regionalist party to better represent their interests and remain independent from Podemos once the next Congress is formed.
► Read More in Spanish at El Periódico and El Confidencial …
► See ‘Who’s Who’ in Podemos ‘genealogical tree’ in Spanish at El Confidencial
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