United We Can Unidas Podemos | |
|---|---|
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| Abbreviation | UP |
| Founder | Pablo Iglesias (Podemos) |
| Founded |
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| Dissolved | 9 June 2023; 2 years ago (2023-06-09) |
| Succeeded by | Sumar |
| Headquarters | Madrid,Calle de la Princesa, 2, 28013 |
| Ideology | Democratic socialism Left-wing populism Republicanism[1] Federalism |
| Political position | Left-wing tofar-left |
| Colours | Purple |
| Slogan | La historia la escribes tú ('History is Written by You') |
| Election symbol | |
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| Website | |
lasonrisadeunpais | |
Unidas Podemos (Spanish:[uˈniðaspoˈðemos]), formerly calledUnidos Podemos[2] (Spanish:[uˈniðospoˈðemos]) and also known in English asUnited We Can, was ademocratic socialist[3]electoral alliance formed byPodemos,United Left, and otherleft-wing[4][5] tofar-left parties[6][7][8] in May to contest the2016 Spanish general election. The alliance's official pre-agreement was announced on 9 May 2016 after weeks of negotiations. It was re-styled to the feminine form of its name ahead of theApril 2019 Spanish general election.[9][10]
Part of theanti-austerity[11] andanti-globalization movements,[12] it advocatesdirect democracy,[12]federalism,[13] andrepublicanism in Spain.[1] After theNovember 2019 Spanish general election, it formed acoalition government with theSpanish Socialist Workers' Party.[14][15][16]
While campaigning for the2015 Spanish general election, theUnited Left (IU) promoted the creation of, and later joined, theNow in Common (Ahora en Común, AeC) platform, seeking a wide alliance with other left-wing parties.[17] AfterPodemos rejected invitations to join to what some members of this party called an "acronym soup", heightened after the failure ofCatalunya Sí que es Pot in the2015 Catalan election,[18] the AeC platform gradually lost momentum: its founding members left the project and the brand name was lost. Eventually, the platform turned into thePopular Unity (IU-UPeC) electoral coalition without having fulfilled its initial aspirations.[19]
From 20 April 2016, Podemos and Popular Unity were reported to be in negotiations to form a joint electoral list for upcoming general election aimed at relegating theSpanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) into third place.[20][21] Leaders from both parties denied that any agreement had been reached, and stated that they "would not do anything until it [the new election] was sure", but confirmed that unofficial talks had begun.[22] More than one hundred intellectuals and artists, includingEl Gran Wyoming,Antonia San Juan,Carlos Bardem,Fernando Tejero, andLuis Tosar, signed a manifesto calling for Podemos, IU and their regional alliances to join forces for the coming election.[23] On the other hand, some member parties of IU such asOpen Left, led by former IU leader,Gaspar Llamazares, were opposed to the alliance from the beginning.[24]
Among the supporters of such an alliance was one Podemos' founders,Juan Carlos Monedero—who proposed that both parties should come together under the name "Podemos En Común" (Spanish forWe Can In Common).[25] Mayor ofBarcelonaAda Colau, also voiced her support for such a pact stating "I would see as positive that it could be put together, always with respect",[26] herEn Comú Podem regional alliance having already seen both parties working together in Catalonia.Valencian Vice PresidentMònica Oltra had also commented that she would see a Podemos–IU alliance as "good", so as to "make every vote count" and for "six million votes having a correct translation in deputies", in reference to the Spanish electoral system panning IU in the 2015 election.[27]
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By 30 April 2016, both Podemos and IU acknowledged that formal coalition talks had started and that, despite differences over the coalition name and the composition of party lists, with discussions continuing throughout the following week.[28] Concurrently, IU submitted its plan for an alliance with Podemos to a membership vote held on 2–4 May,[29] which received 85% of the vote in favour.[30] Despite the ongoing negotiations on 4 May,[31][32] Podemos and IU leaders took the coalition between both of their parties for granted, setting thePeople's Party (PP) as their main electoral rival and seeking to marginalise the PSOE.[33] It was reported that both parties intended to formally announce their alliance during the 5th anniversary of the15-M Movement.[34]
On 9 May 2016,Pablo Iglesias Turrión of Podemos andAlberto Garzón of IU officially announced an alliance between their respective parties,[35][36] with both leaders symbolically sealing their pact through an embrace atPuerta del Sol inMadrid, landmark of the 15-M movement.[37] The pact guaranteed that 1/6 of the candidates obtained by the coalition—as planned and without including the regional coalitionsEn Comú Podem,En Marea andÉs el moment—were to be awarded to IU candidates. In addition, the distinct identity of each party was to be preserved. Podemos, IU and Equo put the alliance up to votes from their respective memberships on 10–11 May, all of which overwhelmingly supported the pact.[38][39]
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On 13 May 2016, it was announced that the alliance would be namedUnidos Podemos, Spanish for United We Can.[2]
Discussions between Podemos andMés per Mallorca (Més) started in theBalearic Islands by late April ahead of a prospective electoral alliance, aiming at forming a "grand coalition of the left" in the islands.[43] Despite initial disagreements over Més's place in the Congress lists, both parties finally reached an agreement on 13 May 2016 to run together in the Balearics under the "Units Podem Més" label (Catalan forUnited We Can More).[44][45]
Earlier on 11 May 2016, Navarrese partyBatzarre—from 2011 within theIzquierda-Ezkerra alliance with IU inNavarre—had voted for joining the Podemos–IU alliance.[46] That same day, For a Fairer World (Por un Mundo más Justo, PUM+J), which had previously participated in left-wing alliances such asAhora Madrid, had announced its intention to join the alliance with 61% of its members favouring the pact.[47] Also joining the alliance was Zaragoza in Common (ZEC), the municipal alliance created for the2015 municipal election in the city ofZaragoza and which went on to win the city's government.[48]
The results of the alliance between Podemos and IU were "highly disappointing" as Pablo Iglesias said the electoral night, however, the alliance itself was called 'the right path'. Unidos Podemos got 71 seats, the same as in December, losing near 1.1 million votes.[49]
In theApril 2019 Spanish general election, the party lost 29 seats and fell to the 4th place in theCongress of Deputies, belowCiudadanos. In theNovember 2019 Spanish general election, the party lost 7 more seats, falling in 4th place, this time belowVox. It entered a coalition government with thePSOE.[citation needed]
On 26 May 2018, Podemos announced that the name of the coalition for the2019 European Parliament election in Spain would beUnidas Podemos cambiar Europa ("United We Can Change Europe").[50]
| Party | Scope | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| We Can (Podemos) | Nationwide | |||
| Building the Left–Socialist Alternative (CLI–AS) | Dissolved in 2018. | |||
| Popular Unity in Common (UPeC) | Dissolved in 2016. | |||
| Participatory Democracy (Participa) | Left in 2016. | |||
| Equo (Equo) | Left in September 2019. | |||
| Green Alliance (AV) | Formed in June 2021. | |||
| United Left (IU) | ||||
| Communist Party of Spain (PCE) | ||||
| The Dawn. Marxist Organization OM (La Aurora (om)) | ||||
| Republican Left (IR) | ||||
| Open Left (IzAb) | Left in December 2018. | |||
| Feminist Party of Spain (PFE) | Expelled in February 2020. | |||
| Unitarian Candidacy of Workers (CUT) | Andalusia | Joined in 2018. | ||
| Initiative for El Hierro (IpH) | El Hierro | |||
| Assembly (Batzarre) | Navarre | |||
| Upper Aragon in Common (AltoAragón en Común) | Huesca | Formed in March 2018. | ||
| Segoviemos (SGV) | Segovia | Dissolved in December 2016 | ||
| More for Mallorca (Més) | Balearic Islands | Left in 2016. | ||
| Asturian Left (IAS) | Asturias | Left in 2016. | ||
| Castilian Left (IzCa) | Valladolid | Left in 2016. | ||
| Confluences | ||||
| In Common We Can (ECP) | Catalonia | |||
| Galicia in Common (GeC) | Galicia | Formed in March 2019. | ||
| En Marea (EM) | Galicia | Expelled in January 2019. | ||
| Valencian style (ALV) | Valencian Community | Dissolved in July 2016. | ||
The alliance is mostly dominated by the left-wingPodemos, but there are also further left factions, mostly arising from theUnited Left (IU) political coalition. Podemos is the only mainstream party that seriously questions the role of the monarchy and the Spanish constitution as it stands. The founder and former leader of Podemos,Pablo Iglesias Turrión, wants Catalonia to continue as part of Spain, but says his party would respect the will of the 80% of Catalans who want a referendum according to polls. The party has called for the release of jailed Catalan leaders on trial in Spain's Supreme Court.[51] It is a coalition of other leftist parties, but theCommunist Party of Spain (PCE) is the only member party that still runs at the national level.[52]
Podemos presented a collaboratively written program for the2014 European Parliament election in Spain. Some of the most important policies were emphasis on public control,poverty reduction, and social dignity via abasic income for everyone, includinglobbying controls and punitive measures againsttax avoidance by large corporations and multi-national organizations, as well as promotion of smaller enterprises. It also included revoking or curtailing theTreaty of Lisbon, abandoning thememorandum of understanding, withdrawing from somefree-trade area agreements, and promotingreferendum on any major constitutional reform. On environmentalism, it advocated reduction offossil fuel consumption, promotion ofpublic transport andrenewable energy initiatives, reduction of industrialcash crop agriculture, and stimulatinglocal food production bysmall and medium enterprises.[53] The PCE is the main member of the United Left. In itsstatutes, the PCE defines its goals as "democratically participate in a revolutionary transformation of society and its political structures, overcoming the capitalist system and constructingsocialism in the Spanish State, as a contribution to the transition to socialism worldwide, with our goals set in the realization of the emancipating ideal ofcommunism".[54]
In 2021, Unidas Podemos supported a motion byMás País to legalise the recreational use of cannabis in Spain.[55]
| Cortes Generales | ||||||||
| Election | Leading candidate | Congress | Senate | Gov. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | |||
| 2016 | Pablo Iglesias | 5,087,538 | 21.2 (#3) | 71 / 350 | 12,786,779 | 19.6 (#3) | 16 / 208 |  [a] |
 Y[b] | ||||||||
| Apr. 2019 | 3,751,145 | 14.3 (#4) | 42 / 350 | 9,171,853 | 12.8 (#4) | 0 / 208 | — | |
| Nov. 2019 | 3,119,364 | 12.9 (#4) | 35 / 350 | 7,884,444 | 12.4 (#3) | 0 / 208 |  | |
| European Parliament | |||||
| Election | Leading candidate | Votes | % | Seats | EP Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | María Eugenia Rodríguez Palop | 2,258,857 | 10.1 (#4) | 6 / 59 | GUE/NGL Greens/EFA |
| Year |  ES |  EU |  AN |  AR |  AS |  CN |  CB |  CM |  CL |  CT |  CE |  EX |  GL |  IB | .svg) RI |  MD |  ML |  MC |  NC |  PV |  CV | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 21.2 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 19.1 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 14.8 | N/A | |
| 2017 | 7.5 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 2018 | 16.2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 2019 |  14.3 | 10.1 | 6.9 | 1.5 | 7.2 | 9.7 | 6.7 | 5.6 | 1.2 | 8.1 | ||||||||||||
| 12.9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020 | 3.9 | 8.1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2021 | 6.9 |  7.2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2022 | 7.7 | 5.1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2023 | N/A | 3.9 | 4.1 | 4.1 | N/A | 6.0 | 4.4 | 5.1 | 4.8 | N/A | 4.7 | 6.1 | 3.6 | |||||||||
| Year | ES | EU | AN | AR | AS | CN | CB | CM | CL | CT | CE | EX | GL | IB | RI | MD | ML | MC | NC | PV | CV | |
Bold indicates best result to date. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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