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| - Pablo Iglesias, leader of the hard-left party Podemos and a deputy prime minister in Spain's ruling coalition, said Monday he would resign from the government to run as Madrid's regional chief. "I have informed (Prime Minister) Pedro Sanchez about my decision to leave my post in government when the campaign begins," he said in a video message posted on social media referring to elections scheduled for May 4. The pony-tailed former professor of political science took up his position as one of four deputy prime ministers in January 2020, leading Podemos into the government for the first time since it was formed in 2014. His surprise announcement came a day after a regional court confirmed the snap poll, which was called last week after the collapse of the region's ruling coalition, which groups the rightwing Popular Party (PP) and the centre-right Ciudadanos. The decision to call early elections was taken by the PP's Isabel Diaz Ayuso, who resigned as Madrid's regional leader on Wednesday, An outspoken rightwinger with relatively little political experience, she sprang the move after Ciudadanos filed a no-confidence motion against the PP in another region where they rule in coalition. Diaz Ayuso said she expected the same to happen with her. The move has raised questions as to whether other regional rightwing tie-ups will also topple. Diaz Ayuso, who has led fierce opposition to the central government's pandemic restrictions, has framed the snap polls as giving voters a choice "between Socialism and freedom". "Communism or freedom," remarked opposition leader and PP chief Pablo Casado in a sardonic response on Twitter just minutes after Iglesias' announcement. Madrid's rightwing mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida was even more derisive. "Pablo Iglesias as a candidate? That's a sure-fire victory for Diaz Ayuso, without a doubt," he said. "Pablo Iglesias is the worst-rated politician in Spain." Analysts said the move raises the stakes for May's vote in Spain's wealthiest region. "It's a strong play to try and displace Isabel Diaz Ayuso from the regional government," said analyst Paloma Roman. As Spain's second deputy prime minister, Iglesias was "an important candidate" but also a "very strong and controversial figure, easily as controversial as Diaz Ayuso herself", she said. "It could be a very polarised fight." And it could also ease tensions within Spain's ruling coalition, she said. There has been constant friction between the Socialists and Podemos since the coalition was formed in January 2020, notably over migrants, social policy and the state of Spain's democracy. In recent weeks, things have worsened with the parties clashing over a string of violent protests triggered by the jailing of a rapper for controversial tweets. "Perhaps the departure of Pablo Iglesias from the government itself will ease those tensions... because he won't be sitting with them in the cabinet," she said. A political scientist by training, Iglesias founded Podemos just over seven years ago, the party emerging from the anti-austerity "Indignados" protest movement that occupied squares across Spain in 2011 during the global economic crisis. Bearded and with a solemn gaze, Iglesias was for years known for his long pony-tail, but since entering government, he has taken to wearing it up in a top-knot, or bun. mg/hmw/ds/jj
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