THE former minister and MEP of Podemos, Irene Monterodeclared this Monday that the second vice president of the government, Yolanda Díaz, is the “the biggest political mistake” made by Podemos during the presentation of its book we will have done something (Navona editorial) at the Casa Encendida in Madrid. Irene Montero had the company of Pablo Iglesias, the secretary general of Podemos, Ione Belarra or the former deputy of purple formation Pablo Echeniqueamong others. The presentation of the book was carried out by journalist Joana Bonet. Montero justified why the purple formation proposed Yolanda Díaz as electoral candidate after the departure of Pablo Iglesias in 2021: “We took this decision thinking that the electoral space was going to be expanded (…) but power was handed over to those who do not want to give up anything”» lamented Montero.
In the book, Montero also dedicates pages to Yolanda Díaz: he demanded her resignation in several meetings with members of his party, in addition to reporting that it was expected that this experience of coalition government would be “an anecdote in history” and not a stable form of government in Spain. In addition, Irene Montero recognized that Díaz had offered her the embassy in Chile and that it was a “humiliation” to try to buy it with a political solution.
“Thanks to the political action of Podemos in the government, we have made possible many things that the PSOE did not want, starting with the coalition government itself. It was necessary to repeat up to four elections in Spain for this coalition government to be possible, through feminist laws or the housing law,” declared the former Minister of Equality.
Montero also sent several messages to the PSOE, a party which he says must accept this Podemos will not find a “subordination” link. But throughout these pages, and reviewing his last ten years of political experience, Montero also addresses the personal realm and how he had to pay a “high political and personal price.”
“Despite this, we did our best. Even if bipartisanship does not want it, this is only just beginning,” he warned, stressing that Podemos will “put the left back on its feet” because Spain “needs a progressive state.” “These years have been very hard, but we have also been able to do the most beautiful things,” added Montero, who also devoted several pages to his intimate relationship with Pablo Iglesias.
