Sánchez wins elections, but needs coalition partners to govern
Monday, April 29, 2019 @ 6:40 PM
PEDRO Sánchez and the PSOE (socialists) have won by far the most seats at yesterday's (Sunday's) general election – fewer than the 140 he aspired to, but at 123, as many as the right-wing PP earned following the 2015 vote.
This still leaves him short of the 176 needed for an outright majority, but the results gained by the main right-wing parties mean he has little risk of being trumped by a coalition agreement between them.
For the first time since Felipe González's reign, which ended in 1998, the socialists have won the general election in 40 of Spain's 52 constituencies, and also acquired the most seats at the Senate, with 123.
In total, the PSOE gained nearly 7.5 million votes in an election which saw a much higher participation than the one in summer 2016 – 75.75% of the electorate, as opposed to 66.48% last time – representing 28.68% of ballots.
The right-wing PP has plunged in popularity – the 123 seats gained in 2015 and the 137 won in 2016 under Mariano Rajoy has now dropped to 66 under Pablo Casado, with just under 4.4 million votes, or 16.7% of ballots.
Until the 2015 elections, voting was always a straight contest between the 'Big Two', the PP and PSOE, but the emergence of powerful independent parties means the likelihood of any one outfit gaining a clear majority is now very remote; in fact, centre-right Ciudadanos is now tailgating the PP with 57 seats, resulting from 4.14m votes, or 15.86% of ballots.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com