Left-wing party Sumar would obtain 10% of the vote if elections were held today in Spain, while the socialist party (PSOE/S&D) would win the race with 30% of the vote and centre-right Partido Popular (PP/EPP) would attain 26%, a new survey by state-owned Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas (CIS) predicts. Left-wing Unidas Podemos (EU Left), PSOE’s coalition partner in the progressive executive, would obtain 6.7 % of the votes, the CIS survey published on Thursday (20 April) forecast, El País and EFE reported. The fresh CIS study measures -for the first time- the support for Sumar and the party candidate for prime minister, the current Labour Minister, Yolanda Díaz (Unidas Podemos). In a previous poll released in March, Unidas Podemos obtained 10% in voting intention, the CIS predicted. PSOE spokesman in Parliament, Patxi López, stressed on Thursday that the fresh CIS barometer reflects “the will of (voters) to continue maintaining PSOE as a priority partner” of the Government, thanks to the measures the executive has implemented so far to “make the economy work”.
“Sorpasso” and new coalition ally for PSOE?
According to the poll, Sumar would become the fourth political force in Spain, after PSOE, PP, and the far-right party VOX, and ahead of Unidas Podemos. If confirmed, this would mean a political “sorpasso” (overtaking) of Unidas Podemos by Sumar in the left camp, a development that could position the new left-wing party as an alternative for the socialists to forge a progressive coalition with a different configuration. VOX (ECR) is up one point in the CIS poll and would obtain 11.1% of the votes. Centre-liberal Ciudadanos (Citizens) scratches four-tenths of a point and rise to 2.8%. The study also reveals an increase in the percentage of Spaniards who trust the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, with 32.5% of citizens’ support, compared with a previous 31.9%. In contrast, those who trust the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, fell from 26.1% to 22.7% Spain will hold regional and municipal elections on 28 May, with a general election expected to take place in December, during the country’s final month of presidency of the EU Council. (Fernando Heller | EuroEFE.EURACTIV.es)
Source: euractiv.com
