Spain is set to hold an early general election on July 23, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced on Monday. The announcement comes after Sanchez Socialist Party suffered serious setbacks to the conservative opposition in regional elections held on Sunday.
Spain’s conservative leader Mariano Rajoy was on course to secure a second term in power for his People’s Party (PP) on Sunday after his Socialist rivals agreed to abstain in a looming confidence vote, ending 10 months of political deadlock. Spain has been stuck in political limbo following national elections in December and June which left no single party with a majority, paralyzing institutions and threatening to derail an economic recovery.
Spain is likely to repeat its indecisive election of December when it returns to the polls next weekend, according to survey results from three major newspapers, signaling that the country‘s political limbo is set to linger.
Spain's King Felipe VI signed the decree dissolving parliament following December's inconclusive general election. As no political parties were able to coalesce their support into a coalition government in time for the deadline, new elections will be held on June 26.
Spain's parliament held its first session Wednesday, with lawmakers from four main parties taking their seats at a time of political turmoil. Lawmakers picked a Socialist, Patxi Lopez, a former head of the regional government of the northern Basque Country, as parliamentary speaker, in the first pact between rival parties still engaged in talks to form a government since last month's inconclusive election.
Spain is heading for a period of difficult coalition-building after Sunday’s elections in which Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's conservatives came first, but were far short of a majority and with no obvious coalition partner after the centrist Ciudadanos (Citizens) did worse than expected, finishing fourth.
Spain's ruling People's Party (PP) took a battering on Sunday's regional and local elections after voters punished Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy for four years of severe spending cuts and a string of corruption scandals. In a test of the national mood ahead of general elections expected in November, the PP suffered its worst result in more than 20 years to herald an uncertain era of coalition as new parties rose to fragment the vote.
Voters in Spain's Valencia region, a bastion of conservatism for two decades, are likely to desert Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's party in droves in May's regional election, a poll published on Sunday found, in a taste of nationwide politics to come.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy apologised on Thursday for mishandling a major corruption scandal, but denied he or his conservative People's Party, PP, accepted illegal payments and rejected opposition calls to step down.
President-elect Mariano Rajoy resisted pressure on Monday to disclose his plans for rescuing Spain from economic disaster, keeping anxious Spaniards and impatient investors on edge following his election triumph.