Courtesy of Mish.
Spanish Election Results
Mariano Rajoy may be the first leader of a country to be re-elected having imposed harsh austerity measures, but he will either need to find a coalition partner, or form what is likely to be a fragile minority government.
There are 350 Seats in the Spanish legislature and the results look like this.
- People’s Party (Conservatives): 122 seats, 28% of vote
- PSOE (Socialists): 93 seats, 22% of Vote
- Podemos (Eurosceptic, Anti-Austerity Socialists): 69 seats, 20.5% of vote
- Ciudadanos (Anti-corruption, nationalistic party): 28 seats, 14% of vote
This result complicates things greatly. Many expected PP and Ciudadanos would have enough seats form a majority. Ciudadanos had been polling above 20% with Podemos sinking.
Like PP, Ciudadanos is very much against the separatists in Catalonia, and very pro-euro.
But 122 + 28 does not come close to the 176 needed for an outright majority. The socialists and conservatives could form a government, but how stable would that be?
PSOE, Podemos, and Ciudadanos could in theory form a coalition but huge philosophical differences abound. Podemos is eurosceptic while Ciudadanos is very pro-Europe. In addition, Podemos is open to separatist elections and Ciudadanos would never go along.
A minority government with Rajoy remaining in power is possible but that might not be stable either.
Two-party Dominance Ends
The Guardian reports People’s party wins Spanish election but without absolute majority.
The PP and Socialists earned a combined vote share of around 50%, compared to the 70-80% in combined votes in past general elections. “The two-party political system is over and we are entering a new era in our country,” Podemos’ Iñigo Errejón said on Sunday as results began rolling in.
Podemos did notably well in Catalonia, suggesting widespread approval for its campaign promise to hold a referendum on independence for the north-eastern region. Preliminary results suggested a coalition backed by Podemos and Barcelona en Comú was poised to take first place in the region….
