Sánchez wins most votes, Ciudadanos plummets and Vox soars
Monday, November 11, 2019 @ 12:43 PM
PEDRO Sánchez's socialist (PSOE) party has once again won the most votes in yesterday's (Sunday's) general election, although as predicted, short of an outright majority.
The PSOE now holds 120 seats out of 350 – for a majority, they would have needed an unlikely 176, and although forcing Spain back to the polls for the second time in six months was bound to take its toll on the party, the reduction from 123 seats is not major.
But it does mean Sánchez will need to be much more open this time around to striking deals with other left-wing parties since, as opposition team with similar values to the PSOE's point out, the country would not forgive him if he made them vote a third time.
And, as Unidos Podemos' Pablo Iglesias said in his post-results speech, what had been a 'historic opportunity' in April of 'creating a progressive government' has now become 'a historic necessity', since it is 'the only way to keep the far-right out'.
Centre-right Ciudadanos' change in direction seen in April has taken its toll, with Albert Rivera's party losing a whopping 47 seats, dropping to just 10 and seeing it plunge from the third political force in Spain to the sixth, just two seats above pro-independence liberals Junts Per Catalunya (JxCAT) and three more than the Basque National Party (PNV).
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com