Spain: Local elections rout sees PM call snap election for July
A LOCAL elections rout over the weekend has forced the socialist Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to declare a snap election.
A host of regional governments fell from Sanchez’s party’s control into the hand of the main conservative opposition, the People’s Party, with the PM saying he must “take personal responsibility for the results.”
The election, which will be held in July, was welcomed by Sanchez’s key opponent, People’s Party leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo.
“Spaniards have said ‘enough, we’ve had it up to here’,” he told a news conference after the results.
The ballot will also give opportunities to both the far-right Vox party and left-wing, anti-austerity outfit Podemos, to secure positions in what may well be a coalition government.
Vox said it would be willing to work with the People’s Party at both a regional and national level.