Show caption Pablo Iglesias raises a triumphant fist after being re-elected as secretary general of Podemos with 89% of the vote at the party congress in Madrid. Photograph: Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP/Getty Images Podemos Podemos leader tightens grip on Spanish party after landslide re-election Pablo Iglesias sees off challenge from more moderate deputy after months of public infighting about direction of anti-austerity party Sam Jones in Madrid @swajones Sun 12 Feb 2017 09.12 EST Share on Facebook

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Pablo Iglesias has emphatically reasserted his leadership of Podemos, winning re-election as secretary general of the Spanish anti-austerity party with 89% of the vote and easily seeing off a challenge from his more moderate deputy.

While Iglesias has called for Podemos to remain committed to its roots as a popular protest movement, the party’s number two, Iñigo Errejón, has advocated a more pragmatic and less confrontational line when it comes to winning political power.

Tensions between the two men and their differing approaches dominated the run-up to this weekend’s party congress, with Iglesias vowing to step down as secretary general if his agenda and list of candidates for Podemos’s leadership council failed to win majority approval.

He cemented his power on Sunday afternoon, however, when the party’s supporters voted almost unanimously for him to remain leader. The only other candidate for secretary general, Juan Moreno Yagüe, a low-profile Andalusian MP, secured just 10.9% of the vote.

Iglesias also stamped his authority on the leadership council: 37 of his choices were voted on to the council, compared with 23 of Errejón’s. His political agenda attracted the support of 56% of activists, against 33% who voted for Errejón’s plans.

Speaking after the results, a jubilant Iglesias called for unity and humility as the party continued its fight against the ruling conservative People’s party.



“There’s no doubt we’ve made a lot of mistakes,” he said. “It’s impossible not to when you have to make decisions. But I want to promise you all something: we’ll never be on the wrong side. Together with our people, we must carry on the social project of building a sovereign country that is fairer, more equal, more representative, more democratic and more modern, and in which equality between men and women is a reality.”

Iglesias said the “wind of change” was still blowing and that Podemos had grown stronger and more mature. He ended the speech with a familiar flourish: “Unity! Humility! On to victory!”

Behind Iglesias on the stage at Madrid’s Vistalegre arena, Errejón stood stony-faced. He has been openly critical of the decision, shortly before the June election, for Podemos to run on a joint ticket with United Left (IU), a leftwing coalition that includes the Communist party of Spain.

The election results were bitterly disappointing: despite predictions that the new coalition would overtake the Spanish Socialist party, the PSOE, it came third and its constituent parties lost 1.2 million of the votes they had won in December 2015.

Errejón has also advocated a more conciliatory approach to the PSOE and for Podemos to focus more on consolidating its parliamentary influence and power.