Socialists in Spain win narrow victory in repeat election
Kusai Kedri
Press TV, Barcelona
The Spanish socialists on Sunday won the fourth general election in four years with 120 seats of the 350-seat Congress.
However, they fell short of an absolute majority in a vote marked by the rise of the far-right which doubled its score amid a persistent crisis in Catalonia. The indecisive vote means a highly fragmented lower house with no prospect of a clear majority as the socialist leader starts consultations to form a coalition.
Pedro Sanchez has led a tough campaign against the separatist movement in Catalonia, promising to step up efforts to stop the region's bid to break away from Spain; but the rhetoric seems to have emboldened the more radical elements in the movement.
The anti-capitalist Catalan party, the CUP, which has been reluctant to run in the Spanish election, has eventually taken part and won two seats. While the conservatives and the far-right have consolidated their political power, the grass-roots left-leaning Podemos and center-right citizens party have tanked. The Citizens party of Albert Rivera has lost 47 of its 57 seats.
The low voter turnout seems to have favored the rise of the far-right which now stands in the third position, but with the Right and the Left blocs short of an absolute majority, the political limbo in Spain is likely to prevail.
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