Even if Spain were to repeat the general elections, the country’s political landscape would not change much as Catalan separatist forces would still hold the key to a stable central government, a fresh poll published by El Mundo revealed Monday.
If elections were to be repeated on 14 January 2024, they would not clarify the already complex Spanish political landscape, according to the survey, which carried out 1,933 interviews between 17 and 18 August.
In an attempt to overcome the deadlock, Borja Sémper, vice-secretary of culture of centre-right Partido Popular (PP/EPP), announced on Monday that the leader of the conservative formation, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, will call acting Prime Minister and Socialist leader, Pedro Sánchez (PSOE/S&D), “in the next few hours” as part of the round of contacts Feijóo started on Monday.
A meeting between Feijóo-Sánchez
“It is essential that politics is presided over by moderation, that it escapes and flees extremism”, Sempere said, insisting on the “responsibility” that both parties have to seek stability and governability in Spain.
“If we are called (by the PP), first we have to be called […] we will go to that meeting”, PSOE´s spokesperson and acting Education Minister, Pilar Alegría, stressed on Monday, EFE reported.
But even if elections were to be repeated, Catalan pro-independence party Junts Per Catalunya (Together for Catalonia), led by the former Catalan prime minister Carles Puigdemont, would remain the key to a new left-wing coalition government with its seven seats, the survey reveals.
According to the Sigma DOS polling company study for El Mundo, although the centre-right Partido Popular would receive a higher voting intention, support for the socialist party would remain almost the same as in the 23 July elections.
The far-right VOX party (ECR), currently the third political force in parliament, would remain in the same position, and the same would happen with the left-wing bloc Sumar, led by the acting Labour Minister Yolanda Díaz, the fourth force currently in parliament.
Together, PP and VOX would gather 172 seats, two more than in 23-July elections, but they would have no more partners to help the PP reach the 176 seats (out of a total of 350 in parliament) of the absolute majority to allow the investiture of Alberto Núñez Feijóo.
According to the poll, there would also be no major variations in the political forces that could support Núñez Feijóo for his investiture in a debate to be held on 26 and 27 September.
The regional conservative party Unión del Pueblo Navarro (UPN) and the Canary Islands regional party Coalición Canaria would add one MP each, and with this, the bloc supporting Feijóo would gather 174 seats, just two seats short of an absolute majority, according to the poll.
The PSOE would maintain precisely the same vote percentage as on 23 July, with 31.7%, and, based on the current provincial distribution, the party led by Pedro Sánchez would lose two deputies and be left with 119.
Small changes in Catalonia’s political landscape?
Nor would there be any surprises in the progressive bloc Sumar, which would maintain 12.4% of popular support with 31 deputies, the same as now.
According to the poll, in Catalonia, the pro-independence left-wing Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) would gain an advantage over Junts Per Catalunya, the centre-right nationalist party, and would get seven seats.
Puigdemont’s party would lose one deputy and would be left with six – it currently has seven – but it would still be indispensable, with its vote in favour of a new investiture of Sánchez and for the future formation of a progressive PSOE-Sumar coalition government.
Meanwhile, according to the poll, if elections were repeated, the Basque separatist party EH Bildu would grow to seven representatives, while the moderate centre-right Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) would fall to four deputies.
Regional elections are held in the Basque Country next year.
(Fernando Heller | EuroEFE.EURACTIV.es)
Read more with EURACTIV
Meloni meets Mitsotakis to discuss migration, ‘consolidate’ an ally“Prime Minister Mitsotakis is part of that area of the EPP that willingly dialogues with the conservative area to which we belong, so we certainly consider him a friendly person working in the same direction as us”, MEP Fidanza told EURACTIV.
Source: euractiv.com
