Spain enters the stage of government alliances after inconclusive general elections
Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his conservative opponent, Alberto Nunez Viejo, whose party won the majority of seats in parliament, in the elections held Sunday in Spain, began deliberations, Monday, to form alliances that would allow one of them to take power and avoid a new ballot.
Sanchez was able to limit the gains of the right-wing opposition, and to preserve – contrary to all expectations – an opportunity to remain in power that the game of alliances might provide him, according to Agence France-Presse.
The “Popular” party led by Fuego won 136 seats, while the far-right “Vox” party, its only potential ally in any government coalition, won 33 seats. Thus, the two parties collected 169 parliamentary seats, less than an absolute majority (176 out of a total of 350 seats).
Sanchez’s “Socialist” party won 122 seats, compared to 31 for its ally, the “Sommer” party from the far left.
Late on Sunday night, socialist activists gathered in front of the party’s headquarters, chanting the anti-fascist slogan “They Will Not Pass”, known during the Civil War era (1936-1939). Sanchez assured them of his ability to continue in power.
The prime minister said, “The reactionary bloc of the (popular) party and the (Vox) party has been defeated.” He added, “We, who want Spain to continue to progress, are much larger in number.”
With 153 parliamentary seats won, the alliance of the “Socialist” party and the “Sumer” party will need the support of various regional formations, such as the Catalan “ERC” or the Basque “Bildo”, which is considered the heir to the political front of the “ETA” organization.
However, he will also need a number of small parties to abstain from participating in the voting session, after these formations vowed that they would not allow Sanchez to continue in power for free.
Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (AFP)
And if all the elements are available, Sanchez can get 172 loyal deputies to him in parliament, that is, more than what will be available to the leader of the “popular” party, which will be sufficient in a second round of voting to name the prime minister, as a simple majority will suffice him to emerge victorious.
In the event that this is not done, Spain will find itself, after holding 4 general elections between 2015 and 2019, facing a crisis of blockage in the political horizon, and it is likely that it will be forced to call for a new polling cycle in order to get out of it.
With his relatively superior exit in Sunday’s elections, Nuñez Fijo stressed the right’s right to form the next government. He said in front of the party’s headquarters in Madrid that the “popular” party “won the elections,” adding: “As the candidate of the party that received the largest number of votes, I think it is my duty (to try) to form a government.”
President of the conservative “People’s” party in Spain Alberto Nuñez Viejo (AFP)
“not easy” stage
Fijo confirmed that he would start a “dialogue” with the forces represented in Parliament in order to “form a government,” calling on the socialists not to obstruct his efforts.
And he continued, “We will talk a lot during the coming days and weeks,” stressing at the same time that the stage “will not be easy,” according to what was reported by the French Press Agency.
In the absence of him and “Fox” obtaining an absolute majority, Viejo wants to take power from a minority position. But to achieve this, he needs the Socialists to abstain from taking part in a vote of confidence in Parliament, which they have already said they have no intention of doing.
And Sanchez (51 years), who was prompted by the defeat of the left in local elections in late May (May) to call these early general elections, made warning of the arrival of the far right, the centerpiece of his campaign.
This strategy was successful in the polling process, as the turnout was nearly 70 percent, an increase of 3.5 percent from the last elections held in November 2019.
And the 2023 elections aroused widespread interest outside Spain, due to the possibility that a right-wing coalition that includes the Popular Party and “Fox” would come to power, in a European country that is considered a pioneer in the field of women’s rights and the “LGBT community.”
Such a scenario, if it occurred, would have returned the far right to power in Spain, for the first time since the end of Franco’s dictatorship in 1975.
With the European elections scheduled for 2024 approaching, the victory of the right, and perhaps the participation of the far right in governance in the fourth economy in the eurozone, after its victory in Italy last year, was a severe blow to the left parties on the continent.
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2023-07-24 11:17:12
