In the choice of direction, which is being watched with great interest internationally, Spain may face a political shift to the right. According to forecasts, the socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will have to reckon with being replaced in the parliamentary elections, since the conservative People’s Party (PP) of his challenger Alberto Nunez Feijoo is ahead in the polls.
According to the survey by the TV station RTVE, which is considered very reliable, the PP won around 145 to 150 seats ahead of the Socialists from Sanchez, who came up with 113 to 118 seats.
For an absolute majority in the 350-seat House of Representatives, however, Feijoo could probably depend on the votes of the right-wing populist party Vox. For the first time since the end of the Franco dictatorship in 1975, a right-wing party would have direct influence on government action. According to the RTVE forecast, Vox ranks fourth with 24 to 27 seats behind the left-wing electoral alliance Sumar (28 to 31).
Vox wants to deport illegal immigrants and repeal laws on transgender rights, abortion and animal rights, among other things. In addition, the party led by Basque politician Santiago Abascal wants to roll back the climate protection measures promoted by Sanchez and abolish the constitutionally guaranteed autonomy rights of Spanish regions such as Catalonia.
A government led by the PP could also take a different approach to social, tax and economic policy: Feijoo plans to lower taxes for low earners and at the same time abolish a recently introduced wealth tax. He also wants to stimulate the industry.
Sanchez’s Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) has governed Spain since 2018, since January 2020 in a minority coalition with the left-wing Podemos party, which emerged from the anti-austerity protest movement. The ballot was originally scheduled for December. But Prime Minister Sanchez called the snap elections after the left suffered a severe defeat in local and regional elections at the end of May. The votes took place at a tricky political time, when Spain has only just taken over the six-monthly rotating EU Council Presidency.
sti/uh (afp, dpa, rtr)
Source: DW
