This Monday, the Spanish press reflects the political uncertainty caused by early parliamentary elections on Sunday, with the left preventing an absolute majority of the right, despite the victory of the conservative Partido Popular (PP).
“PP wins, but opposition from PSOE and Somar frustrates their majority with VOX and leaves government in the air”emphasizes the newspaper El Pais on its website, just below the election results.
This newspaper made an “alliance calculator” available in parliament, indicative of the many negotiations that may be required to form Spain’s next government.
The PP elected 136 deputies (47 more than before) and the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE, in power) won two more, now with 122.
Polls pointed to a possible absolute majority for the PP with VOX, but the far-right party lost 19 deputies and the 33 it chose failed to allow the right-wing bloc to reach 176 to secure the government.
Somar (extreme left), whose parties are part of the government coalition led by the PSOE, had 31 deputies in the new parliament.
‘Feijóo does not live up to expectations, but claims the right to rule’ is another highlight of election night in El Pais, which also reports that VOX leader Santiago “blames Abascal Feijóo for the ‘failure of the alternative’ in demobilizing the right”.
On the left, the same newspaper reads that “PSOE rises from the ashes of 28-M to improve 2019 result”, a reference to the socialist defeat in May’s municipal elections, and “Somar clings to a possible restoration of the coalition government”.
The daily El Mundo headlines “Feijóo wins elections, but Puigdemont can make Pedro Sánchez president”, referring to the Catalan leader who was sacked by the Spanish government in 2017 for trying to proclaim a republican system in Catalonia.
“The triumph was bitter for the PP and the defeat was sweet for the PSOE”says the same newspaper.
“Sánchez will be able to return to government through a new alliance of the defeated and with the consent – in the form of abstention – of the Junts, the party of the fugitive Carles Puigdemont”he adds.
In the editorial, El Mundo speaks of an “uncertain scenario with the country in the hands of Puigdemont and Bildu”, recalling that a party that lost the election has never ruled in Spain.
ABC also emphasizes that “Feijóo wins, but Sánchez can rule if he is supported by Puigdemont”.
In the editorial titled “Spain in its greatest uncertainty”, the ABC states that “contrary to almost all predictions, the election result frustrates the conservative bloc’s expectations and represents an unlikely alternative to the government of Pedro Sánchez”.
“Feijóo wins but doesn’t reach Moncloa and Sánchez would need Junts to invest” is the title in La Vanguardia.
The Barcelona-based newspaper also says the PP leader will try to form a government and that Sánchez is “resisting the tsunami from the right”.
The Catalan La República points this out ‘Independence is again crucial: Junts and ERC hold the key to electing President Sánchez’.
headlines El Diario Vasco newspaper “Feijóo wins, Sánchez resists and both get the chance to rule”adding that “the specter of deadlock and new elections hangs over the new parliament”.
La Voz de Galicia points out “PP wins the election, but the PSOE resists and Junts sets the terms for Sánchez’s inauguration”.
Source: DN
