It’s official: Spanish election to be held on 26th of June

Barcelona (CNA).- Spain will celebrate elections on the 26th of June, after the main political parties were unable to reach an agreement to form a stable government. It is the first time since the restoration of democracy in Spain that an early election has to be called for this reason. The Spanish King has signed this Tuesday the decree calling the election, and the Spanish Congress is to be dissolved. The celebration of new elections has been an open secret since the failure of the main parties to reach any kind of agreement, and especially since the King said last week that he was not going to offer the leader of any political party the task of trying to form a government. Neither conservative Mariano Rajoy nor socialist Pedro Sánchez have found the votes necessary to win an investiture debate. Sánchez did try to achieve the support of Congress for a government led by him and C’s but was defeated. Rajoy, the current president, did not even try.

The electoral campaign will start on the 10^th of June and, after the vote on the 26^th, the new Congress will have its first session on the 19^th of July. Most polls suggest that the new Parliament will be as fragmented as the last one, making it difficult for parties to form a stable coalition. The acting president, People’s Party leader Mariano Rajoy, was a firm advocate during the negotiations of a grand coalition between the PP, the PSOE and even Ciutadans, something that neither of these two parties were ready to accept.

The option of a left-wing coalition, with the PSOE and Podemos, was also on the table during the negotiations. However, both parties were unable to find common ground on many issues, especially on how to respond to the aspirations of Catalonia. While Podemos defends the position that a referendum on independence should be organised, the PSOE is totally against it and advocates for a constitutional reform that would fall short of allowing any self-determination vote. Finally, Pedro Sánchez also negotiated with the leader of Ciutadans, Albert Rivera, over a possible coalition: their option was the only one voted on in Congress, but was easily defeated. 

The fragmentation of the Spanish Congress, mainly due to the emergence of new parties, is a sign of a new era in Spanish politics. Moreover, it is also due to the situation in Catalonia, where pro-independence parties are hoping to gain an even greater number of seats that could help them influence the formation of a new Spanish government in exchange for support for a referendum.