Podemos leader backs Jeremy Corbyn campaign for Labour leadership

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/aug/25/podemos-supports-jeremy-corbyn-change-europe

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The leader of Spanish anti-austerity party Podemos has thrown his support behind Labour leadership frontrunner Jeremy Corbyn, portraying him as a potential ally in efforts to change Europe.

“We salute and support him,” Pablo Iglesias told reporters on Monday. “The fact that at this moment Jeremy Corbyn is the favourite to win … and make a 180-degree turn from the direction set out by Tony Blair shows how much things are changing across Europe.”

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Iglesias added: “A different Labour party that returns to its origins as a representative of the popular classes is, I believe, very important.”

He painted a picture of leaders choosing between two very different versions of Europe. “In some way, Merkel and her allies represent the past and, little by little, the future … is making headway in Europe,” he said.

Iglesias’s stance echoed a statement released by his party’s international secretariat a day earlier. “In Podemos we share Jeremy Corbyn’s view that another Europe is not just possible but necessary,” it said. “Against the irresponsibility of the troika and the Eurogroup, against the Europe of financial lobbies and puppet representatives, a new democratic and social Europe is emerging, and Jeremy Corbyn’s victory would be great step in that direction.”

Iglesias’s endorsement of the MP for Islington North came in response to reporters’ questions about the upcoming Greek elections and the challenges facing Iglesias’s anti-austerity ally in Athens, Alexis Tsipras.

Calling Tsipras a “lion”, Iglesias said he was confident Greek citizens would again show their support for him. “He recognised that he wouldn’t be able to complete some of the elements of his program, so Tsipras did what any democrat would do – he asked the citizens of his country if they want him to remain prime minister, if they want him to continue negotiating, if they in some way support the manner in which he is negotiating,” he said.

But Iglesias returned to Podemos’s response after the Greek referendum, which sought to mark the distances between the two countries. “Greece is not Spain,” he said, pointing to differences in GDP as an example. “We would be able to negotiate from a stronger position.”

Recent polls have suggested support for Podemos decreasing, with analysts pointing to the situation in Greece as a potential explanation. Iglesias, who speculated that the general elections in Spain would not be called until December, said his party remained cautious of reading too much into polling data. “We’re out to win the general elections,” he said. “We know its going to be a difficult match but we want to play.”