Global Courant 2023-05-29 15:33:16
OVIEDO
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced on Monday that he will dissolve the Spanish government and start elections on 23 July.
The announcement came the day after local elections, in which Sanchez’s Socialist Party lost the lead of several regional governments, including Valencia, Aragon and Extremadura. At the municipal level, it was defeated by the People’s Party.
“As Prime Minister and chairman of the Socialist Party, I assume my responsibility and I think it is necessary to respond to these consequences and surrender our democratic mandate to the will of the people,” Sanchez said in a televised speech.
Spain will also become the rotating presidency of the European Council in July, and Sanchez said Spanish citizens need to clarify “which government they want to take on this responsibility in this crucial geopolitical context”.
In his speech, Sanchez added that Spain is now on a clear path to recovery from the shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, and that its government has already passed the programs it promised when elected.
“We need to clarify which political forces should lead this next phase, and there is only one surefire way to clear these doubts, and that is democracy.”
While the move to trigger elections for this summer came as a surprise, general elections in Spain were scheduled for before the end of the year.
In his speech, Sanchez said the local election results mean “new majorities from the Popular Party and Vox will run a large number of institutions”.
While it’s still unclear how governments will be formed, Sanchez’s call for snap elections is putting pressure on the mainstream conservative party and far-right Vox politicians to dissolve their ambiguous alliance. In most cases, the People’s Party did not win an absolute majority.
If they fail to form local governments because the People’s Party is hesitant to reach an agreement with Vox, it may mean that the only alternative at the national level is a left-wing coalition. If the Popular Party signs a deal with Vox, it may also push back some mainstream conservatives.
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