Spain
Sánchez prefers parliamentary elections to July 23
The parliamentary election was actually expected for the end of the year. Now Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has reacted immediately to the results of the regional elections. photo
© Eduardo Parra/EUROPA PRESS/dpa
Spain’s left-wing Prime Minister Sánchez has gone on the offensive after his party’s heavy defeat in the regional elections. Surprisingly, he brought the parliamentary elections forward by almost half a year.
Spain’s left-wing head of government, Pedro Sánchez, surprisingly announced parliamentary elections for July 23 after his party’s heavy defeat in the regional elections. The vote was actually only expected for the end of the year.
“I made this decision in light of yesterday’s election results,” the socialist said in a short televised statement. “As head of government and as leader of the Socialist Party, I take responsibility for the results,” said Sanchez. The democratic mandate of his government is based on the will of the people.
The socialist PSOE and its left-wing partners suffered a heavy defeat in Sunday’s regional and local elections, which were seen as a test for parliamentary elections. In the nationwide local elections, the conservative PP with 31.5 percent clearly relegated the PSOE to second place, which slipped to 28.11 percent. The PP was also able to celebrate successes in regional elections, for example in Madrid or on the Balearic Islands with Mallorca. However, in many places it will depend on the support of the right-wing populist party Vox.
This means that the fourth largest economy in the European Union is going to an election, while the country will hold the rotating presidency of the EU Council for six months from July 1st. After their landslide victory in the regional elections, PP and Vox were confident of being able to win the parliamentary elections as well. The biggest problem for Sánchez seemed to be that the parties to the left of the PSOE were at odds and that his previous coalition partner, the left-wing alternative Unidas Podemos (UP), lost most of its voters on Sunday.
Sánchez on Youtube election results