Thursday, January 29, 2015

The rise of left wing politics

Victory for the far left Syriza party in Greece has been hailed as a triumph by Podemos in Spain. Both parties have an anti-austerity agenda which has appealed to voters.

There are differences though between the two countries. In Greece the socialist government lost control of the financial situation and sought a bailout which only came with conditions of very strict austerity measures. In return the country has received 240bn euros. By contrast Spain did not ask for a bailout but did receive 41bn euros to rescue its banking system.

No matter, Pablo Iglesias’ party still intends to kick out the so called self-serving, established figures in both the PP and the Socialist parties. In January, the fledgling party won 8% of the votes in the European elections and currently are polling 28% of the votes. Voters in Spain will be eagerly watching what happens in Greece before deciding the fate of their own country.

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