• Proposals would block Izquierda Unida merger, decentralize power in Podemos
• Two-term limit would see Iglesias exit gen secretary post after 2020 elections
The number-two ranking leader of Spain’s anti-austerity party Podemos (We Can) has made public a set of party platform proposals to be considered at Podemos’ upcoming “Vistalegre 2” conference that would block any fusion of Podemos with its farther-left electoral ally Izquierda Unida (IU, United Left) and would set term limits for the party’s top post of general secretary, currently held by Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias.
Podemos’ political secretary and electoral strategist Íñigo Errejón aired the proposals over the weekend, saying they are part of a vision that would see a more decentralized Podemos with decision-making power shared out more democratically among the party membership and various commissions than is currently the case. Specifically, the proposals would include a limit of two terms of three years each for the general secretary, which would enable Iglesias to remain in the party’s top spot through 2020 general elections in Spain, but bar him from continuing as party general secretary thereafter.
The proposals would also bar Podemos from merging with Izquierda Unida, the 30-year-old left-wing political coalition dominated by the militants of the Spanish Communist Party (PCE, Partido Comunista Español). In June 2016 general election, the two organizations ran in tandem under the electoral coalition banner of Unidos Podemos (United We Can), but lost more than a million votes over their total garnered in the previous election in December 2015.
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