Double elections in Spain?

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Spain's president decided to dissolve the parliament and call general elections. Spaniards will also vote in regional and European elections

Does the presidential house, La Moncloa,  shudder?

On February 15, 2019, the president and leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE), Pedro Sanchez, informed the population of the dissolution of the parliament and called for new elections on April 28. According to El País, this decision was taken due to the few options that the PSOE has to form a government, since in recent months the General Budgets have not been approved by the Parliament.

The reason? When Sánchez was elected president, after the mention of censorship promoted against Mariano Rajoy, he had the support of the independent parties. However, as EuroNews pointed out, the current government does not agree with the independence of Catalonia, which is why parties like Junts Per Cataluñya have decided not to approve the PSOE budget.

New alliances?

The political chess of Spain is being configured around two elections: general and regional and European. One of the alliances that have taken more power in recent days is the one proposed by the PP, Ciudadanos, and Vox, who commands the center-right wing. According to El País, the Vox party is a new card for the right wing, given that this group is propelled by Spanish nationalists and anti-immigrants.

For its part, El Mundo believes that a valid option could be the union of the PSOE, the ERC and the PDeCAT (independentist parties), because, although Sánchez does not support his independence process, a coalition to "save" Spain from a right-wing government could happen.

Finally, an agreement could be reached between the PSOE and Podemos, however, as the newspaper El País pointed out, nothing guarantees their victory without the help of the Catalans. However, there is a third option. The Spaniards underwent a motion of censure motion on behalf of the corruption plot called Gürtel, in which the PP was involved. As if that were not enough, during Rajoy's term the independence process happened in the Generalitat, a situation that had never been experienced in Spain.

This means that the Spaniards could elect Pedro Sánchez as their leader and his party, the PSOE, with majorities. This panorama is not completely outlandish, but it would take this European country to the initial situation, a government without a voting majority.

Read also: Spain: Pedro Sánchez and the independence crisis

Last plenary session in Moncloa

As pointed out by the radio network COPE, on February 27, the last plenary session of the current legislature will touch on Brexit issues and the situation in Venezuela. Regarding Venezuela's situation, Sánchez has always maintained that the only authority he recognizes in the Bolivarian country is Juan Guaidó, since, as he has stated and as El Periódico reported, "the left has nothing to do with Maduro." In addition, PSOE's president has been a leader in the European Union against the authoritarian regime of Venezuela.

LatinAmerican Post | Miguel Díaz

Translated from "¿Doble elección en España?