KING Felipe VI's annual Christmas Eve speech once again included a covert appeal to secessionist politicians, as well as raising concerns about young adults' struggle to afford housing and violence against women.
General election campaign officially starts
01/11/2019
WHAT IS SET to be one of Spain's shortest-ever general election campaigns has officially got off the ground – and, as is always the case, the second the clock struck midnight on the last day of October, political parties were ready to go with their poster-sticking, since they are not allowed by law to do so until the campaign period begins.
Since the last, effectively, bipartite election campaign at the end of 2011, real contenders for leadership have been growing in number all the time – the right-wing PP and current reigning left-leaning PSOE (socialists) had stopped competing just against each other by the time of the 2015 vote; centre-right Ciudadanos and left-wing independents Podemos, running in coalition with United Left as Unidos Podemos, had burst onto the scene with the latter coming from nowhere to net five European Parliament seats in 2014.
The far right in the shape of Vox – which had been in the background for a long time but never achieved Parliamentary representation – appeared as a very real source of competition in the elections in April, which the PSOE's Pedro Sánchez had called to seek a mandate for governing after just 10 months in power following a no-confidence vote against the reigning PP due to widespread corruption charges against high-ranking members.
Now, the five has grown to six, with Podemos breakaway group Más País! ('More Country'), led by former member Íñigo Errejón expected to win at least a handful of seats with his pro-social policies that include a 32-hour working week instead of the current 40 hours and a minimum wage and State pension of €1,200 a month.
Styling themselves as more moderate left than Podemos but further left than the PSOE, the party's leader was in Cádiz this evening for his first-ever political rally as a presidential candidate.
Albert Rivera of Ciudadanos based his own discourse in Cádiz largely on the relatively non-existent threat of Catalunya's severing ties with Spain and going it alone, the State's resistance to which has led to mass protests, some of them becoming violent, in the region in late October.
Ciudadanos' manifesto includes higher wages, lower taxes, an end to widespread job insecurity, greater help for families and for would-be or actual parents, and a drive to make housing – rented or bought – more affordable, all left-leaning policies, possibly in an attempt to recover the votes it lost in April when it took a dive to the right and even seriously considered joining forces with the PP, which could have meant a pact with Vox, going against its identification as liberals and inconsistent with its membership of the Alliance of Liberal Democrats in Europe (ALDE).
Vox leader Santiago Abascal sought to drum up fear of a 'national emergency' and to convince his audience that the party was not far right but 'representative of everyone in Spain' – although surveys earlier in the year showed that around three-quarters of the country does not agree.
PP leader Pablo Casado claimed Pedro Sánchez had made it into the presidential hotseat through a no-confidence vote based upon 'lies' – despite court cases that had already found PP members guilty of the corruption that forced the vote – and that a vote for the PSOE would be a vote for Catalunya's independence, on the grounds that the pro-secession parties in the region had backed Sánchez's motion against the PP and despite the fact Sánchez has always been dead against allowing a legal referendum on independence in Catalunya.
He and Sánchez were at separate rallies in Sevilla, whilst Abascal was in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona province), United Left leader Alberto Garzón was in Madrid, along with Irene Montero, deputy leader and spokeswoman for Podemos and wife of its head, Pablo Iglesias.
Pablo, rather than being at a rally, was on the humorous, chaotic chat show, El Hormiguero ('The Ant's Nest') hosted by comedian Pablo Motos.
Iglesias referred to both his and Sánchez's failed attempts to reach a coalition deal after the April elections – a scenario which has led to their repeat, due on November 10 – and also to Errejón's having split from Podemos and formed his own party.
“When you separate, things are often much better. When you each have some space from each other, you have an easier relationship with each other. Our cardinal sin was to be too intense,” Iglesias said of Errejón, showing he has no hard feelings.
In fact, in the past, Iglesias had admitted Errejón was the political brains behind Podemos much of the time and is 'gifted' and 'high-IQ', meaning he was 'inevitably frustrated' and would one day feel he had outgrown the party.
Concerning Sánchez, Iglesias does not seem to see the PSOE as a direct rival – he says he still believes it possible that they could form a coalition.
His wife Irene called for her audience at the Madrid rally to 'persevere' in their votes for Podemos so that 'after four general elections in as many years, the changes the country needs can finally happen', whilst warning the 'old two-party system' that Podemos was 'not going to give up'.
Sánchez urged his listeners in Sevilla to 'vote usefully', to turn to the PSOE if they were undecided or were left-leaning, to avoid fragmented results that would end in yet another hung Parliament and could hinder a stable government from forming.
But with the 2015 elections having to be repeated due to inconclusive results, most of the opposition only agreeing to the PP's investiture to avoid a third vote, and April's also having led to a hung Parliament, it appears that the end of the two-party system has also brought an end to any chance of the polls giving any outfit an outright majority.
And even the PSOE admitted months back that outright majorities for any party were now a thing of the past, with so many competing against each other.
As a result, whichever party gains the most seats will have to be prepared to work with at least one or even two or three others in order to form a government – and, as they only have two months from the date of an election to reach a deal before they are forced by law to take the country back to the polls, doing so is going to be the only way to prevent Spain from being months or even years without leadership.
Signs of Spaniards suffering 'electoral fatigue' are already showing, however – whilst non-Spaniards who are resident in the country are not permitted a ballot, as is the case in every nation on earth, participation looks set to be at its lowest ever on November 10.
Registration for postal votes is only at 30% of those who are eligible, according to the latest electoral office figures.
Related Topics
WHAT IS SET to be one of Spain's shortest-ever general election campaigns has officially got off the ground – and, as is always the case, the second the clock struck midnight on the last day of October, political parties were ready to go with their poster-sticking, since they are not allowed by law to do so until the campaign period begins.
Since the last, effectively, bipartite election campaign at the end of 2011, real contenders for leadership have been growing in number all the time – the right-wing PP and current reigning left-leaning PSOE (socialists) had stopped competing just against each other by the time of the 2015 vote; centre-right Ciudadanos and left-wing independents Podemos, running in coalition with United Left as Unidos Podemos, had burst onto the scene with the latter coming from nowhere to net five European Parliament seats in 2014.
The far right in the shape of Vox – which had been in the background for a long time but never achieved Parliamentary representation – appeared as a very real source of competition in the elections in April, which the PSOE's Pedro Sánchez had called to seek a mandate for governing after just 10 months in power following a no-confidence vote against the reigning PP due to widespread corruption charges against high-ranking members.
Now, the five has grown to six, with Podemos breakaway group Más País! ('More Country'), led by former member Íñigo Errejón expected to win at least a handful of seats with his pro-social policies that include a 32-hour working week instead of the current 40 hours and a minimum wage and State pension of €1,200 a month.
Styling themselves as more moderate left than Podemos but further left than the PSOE, the party's leader was in Cádiz this evening for his first-ever political rally as a presidential candidate.
Albert Rivera of Ciudadanos based his own discourse in Cádiz largely on the relatively non-existent threat of Catalunya's severing ties with Spain and going it alone, the State's resistance to which has led to mass protests, some of them becoming violent, in the region in late October.
Ciudadanos' manifesto includes higher wages, lower taxes, an end to widespread job insecurity, greater help for families and for would-be or actual parents, and a drive to make housing – rented or bought – more affordable, all left-leaning policies, possibly in an attempt to recover the votes it lost in April when it took a dive to the right and even seriously considered joining forces with the PP, which could have meant a pact with Vox, going against its identification as liberals and inconsistent with its membership of the Alliance of Liberal Democrats in Europe (ALDE).
Vox leader Santiago Abascal sought to drum up fear of a 'national emergency' and to convince his audience that the party was not far right but 'representative of everyone in Spain' – although surveys earlier in the year showed that around three-quarters of the country does not agree.
PP leader Pablo Casado claimed Pedro Sánchez had made it into the presidential hotseat through a no-confidence vote based upon 'lies' – despite court cases that had already found PP members guilty of the corruption that forced the vote – and that a vote for the PSOE would be a vote for Catalunya's independence, on the grounds that the pro-secession parties in the region had backed Sánchez's motion against the PP and despite the fact Sánchez has always been dead against allowing a legal referendum on independence in Catalunya.
He and Sánchez were at separate rallies in Sevilla, whilst Abascal was in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona province), United Left leader Alberto Garzón was in Madrid, along with Irene Montero, deputy leader and spokeswoman for Podemos and wife of its head, Pablo Iglesias.
Pablo, rather than being at a rally, was on the humorous, chaotic chat show, El Hormiguero ('The Ant's Nest') hosted by comedian Pablo Motos.
Iglesias referred to both his and Sánchez's failed attempts to reach a coalition deal after the April elections – a scenario which has led to their repeat, due on November 10 – and also to Errejón's having split from Podemos and formed his own party.
“When you separate, things are often much better. When you each have some space from each other, you have an easier relationship with each other. Our cardinal sin was to be too intense,” Iglesias said of Errejón, showing he has no hard feelings.
In fact, in the past, Iglesias had admitted Errejón was the political brains behind Podemos much of the time and is 'gifted' and 'high-IQ', meaning he was 'inevitably frustrated' and would one day feel he had outgrown the party.
Concerning Sánchez, Iglesias does not seem to see the PSOE as a direct rival – he says he still believes it possible that they could form a coalition.
His wife Irene called for her audience at the Madrid rally to 'persevere' in their votes for Podemos so that 'after four general elections in as many years, the changes the country needs can finally happen', whilst warning the 'old two-party system' that Podemos was 'not going to give up'.
Sánchez urged his listeners in Sevilla to 'vote usefully', to turn to the PSOE if they were undecided or were left-leaning, to avoid fragmented results that would end in yet another hung Parliament and could hinder a stable government from forming.
But with the 2015 elections having to be repeated due to inconclusive results, most of the opposition only agreeing to the PP's investiture to avoid a third vote, and April's also having led to a hung Parliament, it appears that the end of the two-party system has also brought an end to any chance of the polls giving any outfit an outright majority.
And even the PSOE admitted months back that outright majorities for any party were now a thing of the past, with so many competing against each other.
As a result, whichever party gains the most seats will have to be prepared to work with at least one or even two or three others in order to form a government – and, as they only have two months from the date of an election to reach a deal before they are forced by law to take the country back to the polls, doing so is going to be the only way to prevent Spain from being months or even years without leadership.
Signs of Spaniards suffering 'electoral fatigue' are already showing, however – whilst non-Spaniards who are resident in the country are not permitted a ballot, as is the case in every nation on earth, participation looks set to be at its lowest ever on November 10.
Registration for postal votes is only at 30% of those who are eligible, according to the latest electoral office figures.
Related Topics
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