2023-07-29 19:45:00
29.07.2023 21:45
(Akt. 29.07.2023 21:45)
Catalan separatist Carles Puigdemont tips the scales ©APA/AFP
After counting foreign votes in Spain’s parliamentary elections, forming a government will become even more difficult. According to information on Saturday, the conservative People’s Party (PP) increased its lead over the Socialists (PSOE) in power up to now by one mandate. This will make it even more difficult for Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to find a majority in parliament, while Feijóo still has little chance of gaining sufficient support.
As the electoral commission and both parties announced on Saturday, a mandate in the capital Madrid migrated from the Socialists to the PP of the challenger Núñez Feijóo. That was the result of counting the votes of more than 233,000 Spaniards living abroad.
An absolute majority requires the support of at least 176 of the 350 deputies. Most recently, the Socialists and their possible allies were given 172 seats, while the People’s Party and their possible partners got 170 seats. After counting the foreign votes, both groups are now tied with 171 MPs each, including 137 from the People’s Party on the one hand and 121 from the Socialists on the other.
After last Sunday’s election, it was already clear that small and very small parties have a say in the efforts to form a government. The Catalan separatist party Junts and its exiled top representative Carles Puigdemont, who failed in 2017 with an attempt to secede from the wealthy region, could play a key role. Junts is considered a possible supporter of Sanchez. Feijóo, on the other hand, would have to rely on the right-wing populist party Vox for a coalition, with which most of the other parties do not want to work.
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