The 51-year-old prime minister also performed disastrously in the only televised pre-election debate with the PP’s Feijóo, 61. Sánchez “has made it easier for him to be perceived as a liar,” Canel said, adding that he did not help his cause when he explained in a television interview that “Sanchismo” stood for evil, lies and manipulation. Sánchez apologized and the law was amended to close the legal loophole, but the episode provided invaluable material for the right-wing parties and right-leaning media outlets. A sexual consent law passed in October inadvertently allowed more than 1,000 convicted sex offenders to have their sentences reduced, and over 100 gained early release. The PP claims his minority government betrays Spain by aligning itself with extremists in Basque and Catalan regional parties that ultimately want independence.īut the Socialist-Podemos coalition’s biggest blunder came in what was supposed to have been one of its signature pieces of progressive legislation. Sánchez also said he would not pardon nine separatists who were convicted of sedition after pushing for the Catalonia region's secession - but then he did. Sánchez said he would never form a government with Podemos, deeming it too radical, but then he did in 2019. In Spain, however, the dominant issue is the “honorability” of the Socialist politician who has served as prime minister since June 2018, according to María José Canel Crespo, a political communication professor at Madrid’s Complutense University.įor most of the past year, the PP has pursued a hard-hitting media and parliamentary campaign on the need to defeat what it calls “Sanchismo,” portraying the prime minister as a liar for his U-turns on major issues. Voter concerns over immigration and costs of living, as well as frustration with the EU's perceived interference in national affairs, often have been cited to explain increases in right-wing support in other countries. Sánchez had hoped to use the six-month term to showcase the advances his government had made before a national election originally scheduled for December. Spain took over the EU's rotating presidency on July 1. Countries such as Germany and France are concerned by what such a shift would portend for EU immigration and climate policies, Calvo said. It promises, for example, a return to a highly centralized government by scrapping the 17 regions that came into being after Franco's death.īeyond Spain, a PP-Vox government would mean another EU member has moved firmly to the right, a trend seen recently in Sweden, Finland and Italy. Vox's manifesto is virtually a “copy-and-paste of the tenets of the Franco regime," Calvo said. Nagore Calvo Mendizabal, a senior lecturer in Spanish and European Politics and Society at King’s College London, said the likelihood of Vox entering government frames Sunday's parliamentary election “in terms of the future of democracy in Spain as being what is at stake.” Election polling indicates the party could finish third this weekend, a showing that would put Abascal in a kingmaker's role. Led by former PP member Santiago Abascal, 47, Vox opposes abortion rights, denies climate change and rejects the need for government to combat gender violence. Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the PP's leader, has not ruled out a partnership at the national level. The Popular Party and Vox have agreed to govern together in some 140 cities and towns since May, as well as to add two more regions to the one where they already co-governed. Francisco Franco, the dictator who ruled Spain for nearly 40 years. Such a coalition would return a far-right force to the Spanish government for the first time since the country transitioned to democracy following the 1975 death of Gen. Polls for the general election have consistently put the PP in first place - but likely needing support from the far-right Vox party to form a government. The center-right Popular Party emerged from the May 28 elections with the most votes. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called the early election after his Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party and its small far-left coalition partner, Unidas Podemos ("United We Can"), took a beating in local and regional elections. MADRID (AP) - Spain’s general election on Sunday could make the country the latest European Union member swing to the populist right, a shift that would represent a major upheaval after five years under a left-wing government.
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