Spain slips into political uncertainty after election results yield no clear winner

The future of Spain’s political framework is obscure and isn’t sure whether it would go forward with the vision of Mr. Sanchez or it will be headed by Mr. Feijoo.

After the national elections on Sunday, Spain enters into a political void, leaving no party with enough support to form a new government. With 99 percent of votes counted on Sunday, the People’s Party (PP), the conservative opposition had 136 seats while the ruling Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) had 122 seats. This would likely result in weeks of horse trading or a new vote this year.

The parties which had the potential to form the new government were almost even with the Vox party (far-right) at 33 seats and Sumar (far-left) at 31. Vox party, which had campaigned on rolling back the laws on gender violence, abortion, LGBTQ rights, and euthanasia marks a reduction of 19 seats from four years earlier. The political uncertainty had become quite familiar to the Spaniards since their two-party system snapped a decade ago.

Even though the ruling Sanchez’s Socialists party finished second, the allied parties and themselves celebrated it as a victory since the combined forces received slightly more seats than the far-right and the PP. The right bloc behind PP’s leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo stood at nearly 170 seats while the bloc that would likely support Sanchez totalled 172 seats.

This situation had caused Spain to be once again in political uncertainty as the direction in which the country is currently headed is unclear. The future of Spain’s political framework is obscure and isn’t sure whether it would go forward with the vision of Mr. Sanchez or it will be headed by Mr. Feijoo, reports Al Jazeera. The immediate future of the two blocs will likely create weeks of political tussles which will put the country’s future leadership in a void.

The Political Mess 

This political void is not something new to Spain. In 2016, the country spend almost 10 months in an oblivion state as it moved from election to election. Mr. Sanchez then gained power by outing the conservative prime minister in 2018. Two more elections were held in 2019 before the PSOE and far-left Podemos agreed to form Spain’s first coalition government
Mr. Sanchez weaved together a minority government with the far-left receiving support from small independent parties. 

Sanchez defied the political expectation this time around by increasing his party’s seat in the parliament and getting enough support from his left-wing allies in order to block the formation of a conservative government. During the weeks leading to the election, Mr. Sanchez along with their allies raised fears about its conservative opponents’ readiness to partner with Vox, which would potentially make it the first right-hand party to join the government in 50 years. The possibility of Vox sharing power in the government sent shockwaves through European Union. 

The negotiation, however, to form a new government will start on August 17. Sanchez described the election results on Sunday reveals a defeat of the far-right.  Sanchez, who had ruled Spain for five years, will remain as the leader of a caretaker government till a new government is formed or the timing of the new election is declared.

According to experts, Spain’s voters are tired of the extremes of right and left and had sought to return to the center and a new election would further marginalize the influence of Vox. Sanchez, popular for his progressive attitude presided over an economic rebound but he also alienated many voters by reversing on promises. Sanchez called the elections early which had been scheduled at the end of the year after being hurt in the regional and local elections in May.