Spain’s poll-topping Podemos tones down radical plans in manifesto

Spain's newest political party Podemos, riding high in opinion polls just 10 months after its launch, released an economic manifesto on Friday night that rowed back on earlier pledges to cut the retirement age and default on the national debt.
Podemos (“We Can”) has ridden a wave of anti-establishment sentiment, and polls for two leading newspapers have said it is on track to win the next election, which Conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy must call by late next year. Another, larger, survey said it was likely to come a close third.
The party unexpectedly captured five seats in May’s European elections, and its rise is worrying international investors at a time when Spain is emerging from the worst economic crisis in decades.
“We don’t believe it is the right time to open up a wide spectrum of desires, but rather to propose what could effectively be done immediately,” Podemos said in the 68-page document, which reflects a change of tack as it builds up its party structure and gears up for the election.
“We believe that such a serious and difficult situation requires a great dose of pragmatism.” The new manifesto outlines 79 measures, which will now be discussed with party members and experts before becoming a programme for government. Among them are a tax reform that would shift the burden from labour to capital and increase tax rates for the wealthiest.
The working week would be cut to 35 hours from 40, the minimum salary and pensions would be raised, but the retirement age would be left at 65 instead of being cut to 60.
Podemos has also moved away from nationalising Spain’s main utilities and now only plans to regulate them more tightly and control competition and price-setting in sectors where former monopolies still hold a strong grip.
The most controversial step of defaulting on Spain’s debt has also been watered down.
While the party still calls for its restructuring, it says it would only do so after holding talks with European peers and creditors.
In a sign of the party’s ambitions to capture votes on the centre-left, its 36-year old leader Pablo Iglesias told reporters its ideas were “proposals that any social democratic party could take on board.”