2023-07-24 06:40:09
2023-07-24 14:40 Lianhe News Network corner 24 hours The results of the Spanish parliamentary election have been confirmed on July 24. The right-wing opposition party “People’s Party” (PP) won 136…
【2023. 7. 24 Spain】
Can Spain change?Congressional elections are over, why left and right are still deadlocked
“The Spanish election is over, but there are more variables than before the election.” The result of the Spanish parliamentary election has been confirmed on July 24, and the right-wing opposition partyPeople’s PartyWins 136 seats, outperforms Prime MinisterSanchez(Pedro Sánchez) belongs to the leftsocialist partyThey won 122 seats, but both sides and their allies combined fell short of the 176 needed for a majority in Congress – meaning the formation of Spain’s new government remains up in the air.Originally, before the election, the People’s Party came aggressively, aiming to oust Sanchez from power, although the leader of the People’s PartyFeihou(Alberto Núñez Feijóo) has the opportunity to take office, and Sanchez still has a good chance to continue to govern. However, for the Socialist Party, which is also in a semi-deadlock, there will be a price to pay for maintaining power. In order to gain the support of more parliamentarians, the Socialist Party must seek cooperation with Catalan or Basque independence parties, and the condition may be that an independence referendum must be allowed.
Originally, in pre-election polls, the People’s Party (PP) and far-right partiesVoxPrevailing, poised to defeat the Socialist Party (PSOE) and far-left allies“Summary”(Sumar) – The Socialist Party only experienced a disastrous defeat in the local elections on May 28, 2023. The situation was unfavorable, but Sanchez, in order to appeal to his supporters, put all his eggs in one basket the day following the defeat, announcing that the congressional elections originally scheduled to be held in December would be brought forward, catching up with the People’s Party, which swept the local elections head-on – and as the election date approached, the poll gap did gradually narrow.
The congressional election was held on July 23. By the time the votes were completed at 1:30 a.m. local time on July 24, the People’s Party had won 136 congressional seats and Vox had won 33 seats. There are 350 members of the Spanish National Assembly).
Photo / Associated Press
With such an election result, both the People’s Party and the Socialist Party must seek more negotiations and cooperation in order to gain the support of a majority in Congress before they can win the prime ministership. However, this process takes a long time, and the possible result ishung parliament(hung parliament) or even re-election.
For Sanchez, the situation instantly changed from regarding to step down to being expected to form a new government to continue in power. Archyde.com quoted the analysis of the public relations consulting agency Teneo, pointing out that although the left-wing alliance won fewer seats in total, Sanchez has a 45% chance of successfully reaching an agreement with the aggregation and other small parties to form a coalition government. There is also a 45% chance of an election.
After the results of the counting of votes were announced, there was a paradoxical scene where the two major political parties in Spain were celebrating their victory; the Socialist Party camp and its supporters were greatly encouraged by the results that were better than expected. Sanchez spoke to supporters outside the headquarters of the Socialist Party in Madrid:
“Spain and all the citizens who voted have taken a stand, and the backward blocs who want to undo what we have done for the past four years have failed.” Photo / Associated Press
Although supporters of the People’s Party were depressed for most of the vote-counting process, they still held celebrations following seeing that they still won seats over the Socialist Party. Fei Hou took the stage in a sea of fluttering Spanish flags. He still insisted that the People’s Party, as the party with the most votes in the general election, has the right to form a new government. Fei Hou said:
“We won the election, which means we will form a government, just as Spanish democracy has always worked.”
Compared with the People’s Party, the far-right party Vox made no secret of its disappointment. Party leader Santiago Abascal bluntly said that the election results were “bad news for the Spaniards.”
In the future, according to the usual practice, King Felipe VI of Spain will invite Felipe V to form a new government as a candidate for prime minister.Spanish law does not specify the time limit for negotiations and consultations to form a new government, but if the prime minister fails to obtain the support of a majority of members within 2 months following the vote, he must be re-elected. In 2015, the then prime minister and leader of the People’s PartyRajoy(Mariano Rajoy) once refused the king’s invitation on the grounds that he might not get enough support.
If there is another election, the cooperation between the People’s Party and Vox may also be cracked. Spanish political analyst Iago Moreno (Iago Moreno) pointed out to the “BBC” that the extreme right party is dissatisfied with the People’s Party and believes that the People’s Party is also “demonizing Vox” like other camps. Vox and the People’s Party also have disagreements on certain policies, such as the norms of the gender violence law – Fei Hou declared that it will continue to be enforced vigorously, but Vox advocates its abolition.
Abasca, leader of the far-right Vox party in Spain.Photo / Associated Press
Only 9 years following its founding, Vox has quickly become the third largest political party in Spain. It attracts supporters with nationalism, anti-feminism, Euroscepticism, anti-immigration, social conservatism and economic liberalism. In the eyes of many supporters, party leader and founder Abasca is “the best hope for defending Spanish values.” The Socialist Party and other leftist allies are emphasizing Vox’s anti-feminism and extreme nationalism in the election campaign to prevent voters from voting for the right camp. The right rallied supporters and opposed the Socialist Party with the Sanchez government’s gender identity laws, abortion rights and transgender law reform.
The current situation is not conducive to the formation of a government by the People’s Party, but for the Socialist Party, if it wants to obtain more than half of the congressional support, it must rely on the Catalan or Basque independence parties. However, the Catalan political party Junts, which won 7 seats, has made it clear:
“We will not let Sanchez continue as a new prime minister for nothing.”
For Junts, the condition for supporting Sanchez is likely to be that the Sanchez government must agree to another independence referendum in Catalonia, and this is bound to be too heavy a price for the Socialist Party. The opposition already believes that Sanchez has made too much concessions to the local independence faction because he is relatively supported by Catalonia and the Basque Country, which in turn threatens the unity of Spain.
Vox has only been founded for 9 years, but it has quickly become the third largest political party in Spain, with nationalism, anti-feminism, euroscepticism, anti…
Spain is the current rotating presidency of the European Union, and its domestic political stalemate has brought certain hidden worries to Europe. Political instability also threatens the economic market. Originally, Sanchez successfully led Spain through the epidemic and dealt with the inflation and economic recession brought regarding by the Ukrainian-Russian War.
It is worth mentioning that Spain is experiencing an extreme heat wave. On the polling day of July 23, the highest temperature in the capital Madrid reached 39 degrees Celsius, and regions including Andalusia exceeded 40 degrees Celsius. Many Spaniards have already started their holidays, but the turnout rate was as high as 70% (the previous 2019 general election, only 37.9%). Many voters wore swimsuits and went directly from the beach to the polling station to vote.
“BBC” reported that the reason for the surge in turnout was that although many Spanish voters did not necessarily support Sanchez’s leftist government, they were more worried regarding the far-right ruling. One interviewed voter, Sergio, said that he and his friends were angry that the far-right might enter the government.
Another pick named Jose also bluntly said:
“The beach can wait and I can go there now because I’ve voted and I feel much calmer now.”
For Sanchez, the situation has changed from regarding to step down in an instant to one that is expected to form a new government to continue in power-“Archyde.com” cited… Last 24 hours Spain
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