Belarra appoints Lilith Verstrynge as secretary of the Podemos Organization
Lilith Verstrynge will be the first woman appointed secretary of the Podemos Organization. The recently proclaimed general secretary, Ione Belarra, has elected to one of the most relevant positions within any party one of the people who has most closely collaborated with her in the political project that she presented to the IV Citizen Assembly of the party and that the bases have endorsed in a majority way. Verstrynge, born in Madrid in 1992, will be the fourth name to occupy the position in just seven years of the party's life.
Ione Belarra, elected secretary general of Podemos with 85% of the votes
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Verstrynge has been a member of Podemos for five years and, although his public projection has not taken off until 2021 as part of Pablo Iglesias' candidacy for the Community of Madrid, he has been part of the party's outgoing leadership as head of Ecological Transition. He was also part of the team that Iglesias assembled in the Second Vice Presidency of the Government. Before, Verstrynge was an assistant and parliamentary advisor for the Podemos delegation in the European Parliament headed by Idoia Villanueva, another of the women called to play an important role in the new Coordination Council, the executive of the party to be named in their first meeting the outgoing Citizen Council of the recent primaries. Precisely the CCE will have to ratify this and the rest of the appointments of the future power nucleus of Belarra in its first meeting.
Lilith Vertrynge was one of the members of the future leadership of Podemos mentioned by Ione Belarra in her first speech as Secretary General. "Thank you, Irene, Idoia, Noelia, Isa, Alejandra, Sofía, Pam, Lilith, Pilar, Jessica, Noemí, Beatriz and all the colleagues who are going to accompany me in front of Podemos. It is a pride to walk with you," said the Sunday.
In the face-to-face part of the IV Assembly, together with Isa Serra, Javier Sánchez Serna and Pablo Fernández, he defended the political and organizational documents of the candidacy of Ione Belarra. In his speech on Saturday, he stated that "defending social services, youth or equality between men and women is Republican." And he concluded that "Spain is already republican, and it only needs a little more time to realize it." In addition, he appealed to the founding character of Podemos: "Podemos was thought from victory. It is possible to win. But winning is not only the contest, the result of the ballot box. Winning is putting together a different project of society. There is nothing more radical than to win".
In the primaries held between June 6 and 12, it also managed to climb two places, from the 13th in which it was initially on the list to the final 11th, which indicates that there was a significant number of registrants who chose to place it on the ballot in a higher position than the starting position.
Verstrynge has a degree in History from the Denis Diderot University (Paris) and in Political Science and International Relations from the Sorbonne Nouvelle University, according to Podemos. He also has a master's degree in International Relations from the same university. In addition, she was trained for two years at the Republican Institute of Public Service, focused on political cadres and high officials and last year she was selected to be part of the "Social Demain" promotion, in which 50 young people who work in social fields participate. from all over France.
