According to the latest survey carried out by Metroscopia for the newspaper El Pais, if an election were to be held now then the new party Podemos would come out on top with 27% of the votes.
Of those surveyed, 33% would be voting for Podemos because they believe the party is closer to their own views, while 40% would be voting for them as a result of deception by and disappointment with the other parties.
The IU federations are already proposing an integrated approach to upcoming municipal elections, joining forces with, for example, Podemos and EQUO, so that only one leftist candidate would stand in each municipality. This is seen by the IU as a means of breaking the current two-party monopoly on political power.
On the other side of the coin, there is much to be said for Podemos ‘going it alone’. If people are disillusioned with the existing parties and are looking for a complete change, and who can blame them, then surely it would be unwise to integrate, in any form, with any of those existing parties.
After all, the whole point is ‘fresh and new’, not ‘fresh and new with a bit of old thrown in’.