European Politics > Spain's Sanchez trounced in regional elections - calls a federal election

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Spain PM calls snap election after local poll drubbing

Daniel SILVA

Mon, May 29, 2023, 11:14 AM PDT·4 min read

Yahoo News

Pedro Sanchez has had a rollercoaster political career characterised by his propensity to take risks

In a surprise move, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called Monday for a snap election on July 23, a day after his Socialist party suffered a drubbing in local and regional polls.

Widely seen as a dress rehearsal for a general election that had been expected at the end of the year, Sunday's polls saw the main opposition group, the Popular Party (PP), chalk up the largest number of votes.

The right-wing PP also scored significant gains at a regional level, seizing six regions that had been led by Socialists, including Valencia in the east and the Balearic Islands, which includes the holiday island of Ibiza.

But as pundits were mulling over the Socialists' drubbing in the polls, Sanchez stunned the political establishment by saying he had informed King Felipe VI of his decision to dissolve parliament and call a general election on July 23.

"I take responsibility for the results and I think it's necessary to respond and submit our democratic mandate to the will of the people," he said.

Sunday's results "require a clarification from Spaniards about.. which political forces should lead this phase," he said.

Opposition leader Alberto Nunez-Feijoo, still jubilant from Sunday's success, welcomed the snap election announcement saying: "the sooner the better".

Spain, he said, "has begun a path of change that is already unstoppable".

- 'Support for Vox will grow' -

Oriol Bartomeus, a politics professor at Barcelona's Autonomous University, said Sanchez was "facing a dismal defeat and now he's changed the playing field".

"The alternative was six months of governmental bloodletting and he has decided to gamble it all," he told AFP.

But in Madrid, many were doubtful about his snap election call.

"I don't think it was a good decision, he lost this time around and if he brings it forward, it won't change people's opinion much," 30-year-old Carla Gimenez told AFPTV.

"For me, the fear is a PP-Vox government," said Iris Hernandez, a 65-year-old jeweller, referring to the party's need to rely on the far-right Vox, Spain's third largest political force.

Although the PP seized power from the Socialists in six regions, it will only be able to govern there with support from Vox -- posing a major headache for Nunez-Feijoo.

But 76-year-old Juan Jose Garcia Gonzalez, who voted for Vox, said Sunday's results merely reflected "what a lot of us have been saying in the streets".

"I think support for Vox will grow" ahead of the election, he said.

- Feijoo's dilemma -

In office since 2018, Sanchez has struggled with public fatigue with his left-wing government as well as voter disenchantment over soaring inflation and falling purchasing power in the eurozone's fourth-largest economy.

He has also been hurt by the repeated crises with hard-left coalition partner Podemos, which also saw its support collapse in Sunday's vote.

Sanchez's reliance on the support of Catalan and Basque separatist parties to pass legislation has also harmed his standing.

The PP secured more than seven million votes (31.52 percent) in the municipal elections, compared with nearly 6.3 million for the Socialists (28.11 percent).

The other big winner was Vox, which is hoping to become an indispensable partner for the PP -- both at a regional level and, ultimately, nationally.

Since taking over as PP leader last year, Nunez-Feijoo has sought to moderate the party's line while keeping Vox at a distance. He will now have to enter negotiations with Vox on its role in regional and local governments.

"The Socialists will probably try to use these upcoming talks to mobilise left-wing voters against a potential PP-Vox government on the national level," said Antonio Barroso of the Teneo political consultancy.

It was not immediately clear how such negotiations would "affect the tendency to vote for the PP", he said.

Despite Sanchez's high-stakes gamble, "the odds of a right-wing government taking over in July are high, a 70 percent probability," said Eurasia Group analyst Federico Santi.

A Far-Right Party is Poised for a Breakthrough in Spain's Elections for the First Time Since Franco

Vox is projected to win about 10 per cent of the vote

in Sunday's election

CBC News 

Spain's far-right party, Vox, appears to be headed for a major breakthrough in the country's parliamentary elections Sunday. 

Currently polls show that the party, lead by Santiago Abascal, could capture about 10 per cent of the vote. It's a significant development because the far-right hasn't won more than a single seat in Spain's national parliament since the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975.

But Spanish voters feeling the pinch of austerity measures are being drawn to Vox's anti-immigration messaging, joining other countries across Europe where citizens are turning to far-right populist parties. 

Edward Koning is an associate political science professor at the University of Guelph and he specializes in far-right politics in Europe. He spoke with Day 6 host Brent Bambury about what the election means to Spain's future. 

Here's part of that conversation.

Populist parties are rising in a lot of countries across Europe. Why would it be surprising that Vox is poised to win seats in Spain?

If you look at the what political scientists have to say about it they usually point out a couple of explanations. First, the fact that the history of Francoism doesn't really give a good taste to add to the ... extreme right experience. And second, that Spanish politics are being so dominated by controversy about nationalism versus separatism, and in particular the Catalonian and Basque issue, that voters don't really use immigration as an issue to make up their mind [about] which party they will vote for.

So it's not so much that they ... might not be concerned about immigration, but it's not really one that will determine their their vote for one party or another.

Vox banners hang from a bar in Brazatortas, on the edge of the Alcudia valley in central Spain. Spain is preparing

for its third parliamentary election in less than four years, and the far-right Vox party is projected to win seats.

(Bernat Armangue/The Associated Press)

Obviously that's been the situation since Franco. But what's happened in recent years that's adjusted the way people are thinking now?

Spanish politics are really in a state of turmoil and this is usually what we see that when anti-immigrant parties first do well. [It's] always in unusual elections; and these elections are really looking to be very unusual in Spain. 

First of all, there are socioeconomic conditions that are very unusual. The country is still struggling with the ... aftershock of the economic crisis and the austerity measures. The aftermath of the refugee crisis [has also] led to a ... quite significant increase in the number of asylum seekers that entered the country.

But then the political conditions are also very unusual. For one thing, there's still a constitutional crisis about the status of Catalonia. 

What you usually see in countries where anti-immigrant parties do well is that

there is a weird election where they establish themselves.

- Edward  Koning , professor or political science

And on top of that .. the message that populists always want to voice — which is, there is a corrupt and self-serving and politically correct elite that doesn't care about the interests of real ... Spaniards — seems particularly appropriate today.

On the one hand, you have the centre right party, the Partido Popular, which has been embroiled in a massive corruption scandal. This corruption scandal was so damaging to the party that the incumbent government had to step down.

The current prime minister is a man by the name of Pedro Sanchez who is basically everything that a populist likes to criticize. He has a PhD in economics; he's an intellectual. When he's asked about his opinion on immigration, he tends to answer in at least 10 sentences, with nice subordinate clauses.

So if you're a populist and you say the elites are either [corrupt] or don't care about the views of ordinary Spaniards, you have two very easy examples to draw from.

People walk past a billboard of Spanish Prime Minister and Socialist Party candidate Pedro Sánchez in Madrid, Spain. Appealing to Spain's large pool of undecided voters, top candidates on both the right and left are urging Spaniards to

choose wisely and keep the far-right at bay in Sunday's general election. (Andrea Comas/The Associated Press)

You study far right movements in Western Europe. Where does what's happening in Spain fit into the broader trend that you're seeing in that part of the world now?

What you usually see in countries where anti-immigrant parties do well is that there is a weird election where they establish themselves. And then once weird times are over say, so to say, when the conditions stabilize, these parties stick around because by that time they have familiarized the electorate with their presence.

They have established themselves as some sort of credible political player. They have built up some party organization, so they won't go away.

The timing is different because it requires one of those unusual elections.  For example in the Netherlands, where I'm originally from, it was the elections of 2002 that marked this type of watershed.

Since then the Netherlands have been marked by anti-immigrant politics quite significantly and so we can tell a similar story for almost every country where anti-immigrant parties have broken through.

So Spain fits in this story quite neatly.

Edward Koning is a professor of political science at the University of Guelph. He says once far-right parties establish themselves through unusual elections in Western Europe, they tend to stick around. (Submitted by Edward Koning)

That means if Vox wins only 10 per cent of the seats, as they're projected to in tomorrow's election, that's still very significant for Spanish politics going forward.

Absolutely. Yes. It will mean that it's unlikely that we will see this type of party disappear anywhere in the near future.

What you see sometimes is that new anti-immigrant parties are so poorly organized or so centred around one particular person that they kind of blow up once they have any type of responsibility, but that never actually leads to a permanent disappearance of these parties in general.

What instead you'll see that quickly another party will appear that learns from the organizational mistakes of its predecessor and then will secure the anti-immigrant vote in the subsequent elections.

So it's absolutely important because these kinds of parties will stick around. And the other reason why it's very important is that these parties always turn out to be quite influential although to varying degrees in different countries.

Brazilian Court: Lula Barred from Presidential Election

Corruption is Everywhere - Court says - Not in Presidential Elections

By Sommer Brokaw

Supporters marched to the Supreme Court of Justice to rally in favor of the registration of the candidacy of former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for Brazil's president on Aug. 15. Since then, Brazil's top electoral court has ruled that Lula cannot run for re-election. File Photo by Joedson Alves/EPA-EFE

(UPI) -- A month before Brazilians go to the polls to vote in a presidential election, Brazil's top electoral court has ruled a popular former president jailed for corruption conviction, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, cannot run.

Capping a hearing that stretched overnight, Supreme Electoral Tribunal judges ruled 6-1 that Lula, 72, who registered weeks ago and ascended to first in polling, was not eligible to run in October.

The candidate, who served two terms as Brazil's president from 2003-2011, widely known as Lula, is a founding member of Brazil's only socialist political party, Partidos dos Trabahlhadores, the Worker's Party, but he has been in jail after receiving a 12-year sentence for corruption and money laundering earlier this year. Lula was arrested in April after Brazil's Supreme Court rejected his plea to stay out of jail while appealing the corruption case in a bid to recapture the presidency.

The ruling this week defies a request from the United Nations Human Rights Committee in August for Brazilian authorities "not to prevent him from standing for election in the 2018 presidential elections, until his appeals before the courts have been completed in fair judicial proceedings."

"I never wanted this and if it depended on me I would have avoided that destiny brought us here," said Judge Luís Barroso, who gave the majority opinion. His colleague Edson Fachin, who has jailed other politicians in a sprawling graft investigation, disagreed and said the United Nations decision should prevail.

The majority of the court agreed with Barroso that the U.N. recommendation could not supersede a "clean slate" law that bars candidates who have been convicted of serious crimes.

The decision could work to the advantage of extreme right-wing candidate Jair Bolsanaro, who is running second in the polls to Lula.

Lula's party vowed to continue to fight for his candidacy.

"This is a week that will shame the judiciary forever," the party said in a statement to The Guardian, arguing that the clean slate law only banned candidates after all appeals processes were exhausted. "Lula has a number of appeals outstanding at higher courts."

Venezuela's High Court Bans Chief Prosecutor from Leaving Country

Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela's hapless president, is obviously pulling the strings of the judges in the country's supreme court. Cudos to CP Diaz for standing up to them. The country needs to rally around her.

By Andrew V. Pestano 

Venezuela's Chief Prosecutor Luisa Ortega Díaz has been banned from leaving the country by the Supreme Tribunal of Justice. Photo courtesy of Luisa Ortega Díaz

UPI -- Venezuela's high court has frozen the assets of Chief Prosecutor Luisa Ortega Díaz and banned her from leaving the country.

The Plenary Chamber of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, or TSJ, issued the order on Wednesday, saying a hearing will be held July 4. The TSJ said it issued the order for the "alleged commission of serious misconduct in the exercise of her office."

"The precautionary measures agreed by the Plenary Chamber in order to guarantee the respective procedural channels consist of the following: prohibition of leaving the country of the citizen Luisa Ortega Díaz; prohibition of disposing or filing of all her assets, and a freeze all her bank accounts," the TSJ said in a statement.

The court transferred Ortega Díaz's powers of investigation as the head of Venezuela's Public Ministry to Venezuelan Ombudsman Tarek William Saab.

On Thursday, Ortega Díaz said she will ignore the TSJ's orders.

"This is a provocation against me, with dark purposes. The TSJ is repealing the Constitution and I will not allow it," Ortega Díaz said.

Ortega Díaz was a fierce ally of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's regime but in March she criticized the TSJ after the court said it would assume the National Assembly's duties -- a ruling it later reversed. The TSJ's ruling also led to nearly daily protests, which are ongoing.

Ortega Díaz has since criticized Venezuelan security forces over what she argues is excessive use of force against protesters. Members of the Venezuelan opposition accuse Maduro's regime of attempting to push out Ortega Díaz from her position because she no longer faithfully aligns herself to the socialist government.

After Partial Recount of Ballots, Ecuador Still has Left-Leaning Government

Lenín Moreno declared winner after Ecuador election recount

By Andrew V. Pestano  

Lenín Moreno has once again been declared the winner of Ecuador's 2017 presidential election following a

recount of nearly 1.3 million votes, the South American country's National Electoral Council said in a statement.

Photo courtesy of Lenín Moreno

UPI -- Following a recount of nearly 1.3 million presidential votes, Ecuador's National Electoral Council once again declared Lenín Moreno the winner of the election, this time by a slightly wider margin.

In the recount results, the electoral council, or CNE, said Moreno's Alianza PAIS movement received 5,062,018 votes, or 51.16 percent of the total. Moreno's competitor, Guillermo Lasso, and his CREO-SUMA political coalition received 4,833,389 votes, or 48.84 percent of the total.

"Thank you for showing us that we are an honest society," CNE President Juan Pablo Pozo Bahamonde said in a statement Tuesday. "As I said before, elections are not won with speculation. They are won with votes."

In the initial results following the April 2 election, Moreno received 5,060,424, or 51.15 percent, whereas Lasso received 4,833,828, or 48.85 percent. The CNE recounted 1,275,450 votes.

"After the recount of 1.2 million votes, it ratifies victory of Alianza PAIS. Thanks, we will not let you down! Ecuador expects peace and work," Moreno said in a statement. "It is time for agreements for major national goals. Democracy is strengthened, we look forward. The future never stops!"

Members of the opposition have been protesting for weeks after the CNE announced Moreno won, saying electoral fraud occurred.

Lasso has repeatedly rejected a partial recount, instead calling for a full recount in the election.

"This recount of the CNE, rather than making the results transparent, will reveal the accomplices of this fraudulent process," Lasso said in a statement on Tuesday.

Moreno served as leftist outgoing President Rafael Correa's vice president from 2007-13 before serving as U.N. Special Envoy on Disability and Accessibility. He became paraplegic after being shot in the back in 1998.

Lasso, a center-right former banker who had the support of other opposition parties, ran on an economic platform in which he promised to create 1 million new jobs within four years. He is a conservative who vowed to reduce government spending and taxes.