Spain - Podemos Leadership Survives ‘Chalet-Gate’ Vote

The leader of Spain's extreme left-wing party Podemos (We Can) has survived a no-confidence vote after he had come under scrutiny over ‘Chalet-Gate.’

Mr. Pablo Iglesias, the charismatic founder of Podemos who formed the very successful political party in 2014 whilst a lecturer at the university, had started a relationship with the party’s spokeswoman Ms. Irene Montero since 2016.

As the couple is expecting twins, they bought a house near Madrid. Given that Mr. Iglesias had always criticized politicians who live in ‘villas’ and boasted his own poor credentials by stating that he wanted a basic income for all Spanish and still bought his own clothes in the supermarket, a scandal erupted when it became known that the couple had obtained a mortgage on a $700,000 villa, complete with swimming pool and guest quarters.

Related coverage: https://thegoldwater.com/news/26586-Spain-Chalet-Gate-Extreme-Left-Party-Podemos-Leadership-Caught-Buying-Luxury-Villa

The party members, who want an end to Spain’s austerity measures, higher unemployment benefits, and better public services, were not too impressed and some even whispered Mr. Iglesias should resign.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">In <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Spain?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Spain</a>, the corruption scandal around the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PP?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PP</a> is mirrored in the falling polling numbers for the party. Visit <a href="https://t.co/iFnAh8HXg4">https://t.co/iFnAh8HXg4</a> to see all polls and polling averages.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Ciudadanos?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Ciudadanos</a> in the lead, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Rajoy?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Rajoy</a>&#39;s PP and <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PSOE?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PSOE</a> with 21%, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Podemos?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Podemos</a> 18%.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/pollofpolls?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#pollofpolls</a> <a href="https://t.co/wjQ4Sf1vXU">pic.twitter.com/wjQ4Sf1vXU</a></p>&mdash; Poll of polls - pollofpolls.eu (@pollofpolls_EU) <a href="https://twitter.com/pollofpolls_EU/status/1000985094222503937?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 28, 2018</a></blockquote>

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Given that one of the pillars of the party is an absolute democracy, Mr. Iglesias called an online vote to decide on his leadership.

Party members could log on and answer: "Do you think Pablo Iglesias and Irene Montero should continue as party leader and party spokesperson?"

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Via <a href="https://twitter.com/Anonimo_Abogado?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Anonimo_Abogado</a> : <br>on the Podemos chalet: <br>&gt; 61% didn´t vote ( anticapitalistas pushed for abstention)<br>&gt; 26% voted in favor <br>&gt; 13% voted against <br>and <a href="https://twitter.com/Pablo_Iglesias_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Pablo_Iglesias_</a> said he would quit if he didn&#39;t get 80% of the vote.</p>&mdash; Carmen San Carlos🇪🇸 (@CarmenSanCarlos) <a href="https://twitter.com/CarmenSanCarlos/status/1000875877603962883?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 27, 2018</a></blockquote>

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In the end, some 190,000 votes were cast, and the couple secured 68.4% of the vote in favor of them staying on.

Source:

https://politica.elpais.com/politica/2018/05/27/actualidad/1527441453_921527.html