Spain PM Says Will Try To Form Government After Election

Outgoing Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said he will try to form a new government after his conservative Popular Party won the most seats in a general election on Sunday but lost its absolute majority.

In past Spanish elections, the Popular Party and the main opposition Socialists were the established powerhouses and needed support from only tiny parties to get a majority in parliament when they did not win one from voters.

“Austerity has been politically defeated in Spain”, said Mr Tsipras, adding that the result was a sign that “Europe is changing”. “The two-party system has ended”.

One outcome could be a coalition between the Socialists, Podemos and Ciudadanos in order to lock out the PP and bring about a government of “change”, though any three-way negotiations would be extremely complicated. The center-right Ciudadanos party, which has also opposed some of Rajoy’s austerity measures, finished fourth with 40 seats.

Podemos’s rise was also hailed by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tspiras, whose Syriza party is its ally.

The surprise surge by Podemos – the latest of several strong showings by populist parties in European elections – gives it an influential role in coalition talks.

But school teacher Maribel Martinez, who voted for the Popular Party, was petrified that Spain could descend into political chaos with no stable government for months or an administration run by left-of-center and left-wing parties bent on reversing what Rajoy spent four years accomplishing.

“It’s unthinkable for any party to take five million votes just a couple of years after being formed”, said Luis Neira, a 63-year-old businessman who has been to all of his local Podemos meetings since its foundation.

In a bid to soothe concerns, incumbent prime minister and PP leader Mariano Rajoy said early Monday he would strive to form a government, standing on top of a tall, blue podium in Madrid marked “Gracias” (“Thank you”) and speaking down to cheering supporters. This is the first unambiguous verdict, delivered by the elections, that essentially confirms what polls have already stated as fact for weeks, that is the end of the hegemony of the two major political forces – conservatives and socialists – who have governed the Iberian country since 1982.

Debates in the run-up to the election were characterized by questions surrounding the economy, Spain’s high unemployment rate of 21% (the second-highest in the EU), allegations of corruption, and the separatist fervor in Catalonia, the BBC reported.

Meanwhile, left-wing parties gained ground in the vote and were close to winning an absolute majority although an alliance between those groups which differ on economic policy or on the degree of autonomy that Catalonia should enjoy will not be easy to agree on. Rajoy vowed to quash what is seen as the biggest threat to Spanish unity in recent decades.

“Now everyone will have to listen to each other, negotiate and talk”.

Sofia Mirandos, the Madrid city councilor for Ciudadanos – a centrist party that could be kingmaker if approached by the PP to form a coalition – told CNBC on Monday that her party could work with the Socialists.

Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez said on yesterday Rajoy had the right to have a first go at forming a government. Podemos, or We Can In English, was born from massive Madrid street protests in 2011 that drew mainly young Spaniards tired of corruption.

Ciudadanos has the media-savvy Albert Rivera as its leader.