A second attempt by Pedro Sánchez, the leader of the socialist party PSOE, to become Spain’s prime minister after December’s inconclusive election has come to nothing after he only got one more than the 130 votes he mustered on Wednesday – far short of the 176 needed for a majority.
The parties have until 2 May to agree a coalition, but this looks increasingly unlikely. The only way the numbers add up would be a “grand coalition” of the old guard, the PSOE and the conservative Popular party. But this would be widely seen as a betrayal of democracy and of the millions who voted for change.
The most likely outcome is fresh elections on 26 June. With three months to go it is much too early to call. But, despite his failure, Sánchez is perceived to have come out politically stronger, after at least attempting to find a solution.
He may even have seen off attempts to unseat him by the ambitious leader of the party’s Andalusian branch, Susana Díaz.
Albert Rivera, the Ciudadanos (Citizens party) leader, has also gained in stature, both for his willingness to negotiate and for his measured contribution to Wednesday’s otherwise acrimonious debate.
At this point the losers are the Popular party’s Mariano Rajoy and the Podemos leader, Pablo Iglesias. However, on Friday Iglesias dropped his belligerent tone and urged Sanchez to meet next week to form a left coalition.
Rajoy, meanwhile, appears deaf to appeals from within his own party to stand aside and let the party rebuild itself and attempt to shake off the taint of corruption.
At present there is no reason to believe that June elections will produce a result significantly different from December’s. With no one emerging with a clear majority, it may take until late in the year before Spain’s politicians learn the meaning of the word coalition.
