Winner of Spanish elections fails in first attempt to become prime minister

A new defeat for right-wing conservatives in Spain. More than two months after the Spanish parliamentary elections, winner Alberto Nuñez Feijóo of the right-wing conservative Partido Popular party has failed to gain parliamentary support for his premiership. During an initial vote on Wednesday afternoon, he obtained only 172 seats. 178 voted against Feijóo’s candidacy.

The outcome does not come as a surprise, because Feijóo has been unable to conclude pacts with other parties. He needed this for a majority government, but with the support of the extreme right-wing Vox and the two small parties UPN (Navarrese Volksunie) and Coalición Canaria, Feijóo is therefore stuck at 172 seats.

Lack of support would mainly be because the leader of the Popular Party based his campaign on it antisanchismo, the resistance against outgoing Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez (PSOE). This became clear again on Tuesday when Feijóo kicked off the formation debate with a forty-page speech. He mainly lashed out at Sánchez. For example, his first words were about the amnesty law that the Catalan independence party Junts is demanding from fugitive Carles Puigdemont in exchange for support for Sánchez. It is a hot topic in Spanish politics.

Deal with separatists

The socialist leader has not yet made any statements about the law, but Feijóo is convinced that Sánchez is willing to make a deal with the separatists. For example, he said in his argument that the socialist leader puts “personal interests” above those of the country and that the law is “neither legally nor ethically acceptable.”

Since last week, it has been allowed to speak Catalan, Basque or Galician in parliament. That was previously prohibited. But when a new parliament speaker was selected last month, Catalan and Basque nationalists supported Sánchez’s PSOE candidate. In return, Sánchez promised to ensure that the region’s languages ​​would be promoted in the European Parliament and in the Spanish parliament. The Partido Popular and Vox accuse the PSOE of giving in to the Catalan separatists.

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Sánchez himself also went on the offensive, by giving up his speaking time to party colleague Óscar Puente, who until recently was mayor of Valladolid. He received the most votes in his city in elections in May, but was unable to form a government and subsequently transferred power to the candidate of the Popular Party. “I had no trouble admitting that I didn’t win. In a parliamentary democracy, whoever can form a government wins.” It was a tactical advantage for Sánchez, who silently watched the debate. Feijóo and his supporters then responded further “coward” to chant in the hall – Coward!

Other Spanish media are also talking about the tone of the debate and how Feijóo has no concrete plans for a government and is mainly fixated on Pedro Sánchez and his socialist party. Feijóo now seems to have been dealt with in the first vote this Wednesday afternoon.

The second vote will take place on Friday afternoon. Feijóo does not need to get 176 seats, as long as he does not have a majority against him. But that chance is becoming smaller and smaller.

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