Spain PM starts talks to form govn’t after vote backlash
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has said he is prepared to speak “with generosity “to other political parties as he starts the hard task of forming the next government in the wake of Sunday’s elections, which left Spain with a hung parliament”.
Anti-austerity Podemos and fellow newcomer Ciudadanos (“Citizens”), a business-friendly party, entered the mainstream for the first time in the closely-contested election, ending domination by the PP and Socialists stretching back to soon after dictator Francisco Franco’s death in 1975.
“The Popular Party needs to try to form a government”. In the final televised debate before the election, Sánchez accused Rajoy of being dishonest, referring to the prime minister’s failure to take responsibility for corruption scandals, including one centered around the Popular Party’s former treasurer.
On Monday, Rajoy said the PP would flex its majority in the country’s senate to stymie any attempts to change the country’s constitution, making it clear that a Socialist-led government would not be able fulfil its promise of reforming the constitution to address the push for independence in Catalonia.
But if Rajoy’s future was in limbo, so were those of his main rivals, who also failed to achieve the decisive victory they had hoped for. For that, a party would have needed to gain 176 seats.
Shortly before Mr Sanchez went into his meeting with the acting prime minister at Madrid’s Moncloa Palace, Ciudadanos leader Albert Rivera called for a pact between the three parties.
The PP is still the most voted for party, but in comparison to four years ago, it has lost more than 60 seats.
His suggestion echoed the many analysts who have pointed out that the PP might have a better chance of reaching agreement with other parties if it changed leadership.
Podemos was formed early previous year as a far-left, anti-austerity party, modelled in part on the success of Syriza, the governing party in Greece. However, with Congress having shifted to the left on Sunday, that is unlikely to be enough.
Spanish Podemos Party leader Pablo Iglesias listens to a question during a news conference a day after the Spanish general elections, in Madrid, December 21, 2015.
That leaves the Socialists with two options – trying to form a left-wing coalition with Podemos and Catalan nationalists or admitting defeat and consigning Spain to new elections.