MADRID — Spain’s governing Socialist party suffered an unexpected election setback on Sunday as right-wing parties won enough votes to oust the Socialists from power in the nation’s largest region for the first time since the country returned to democracy.
The result in Andalusia was a blow to Pedro Sánchez, Spain’s Socialist prime minister, who has been in office since June and could now be forced into a snap general election next year.
The Socialists won just 33 of the 109 seats in the regional parliament, according to provisional results released late Sunday, with 94 percent of the votes counted. It was the party’s worst result in Andalusia since 1982, when the region held its first election after Spain adopted a new Constitution.
The biggest change for Spain’s political landscape on Sunday was the emergence of Vox, a far-right party that had never previously made any significant election inroads. The party won 12 seats, according to the provisional results.
That could make Vox a kingmaker in the formation of a right-wing coalition government in the region. The bloc would comprise the Popular Party, which secured 26 seats, and the Ciudadanos party, which won 21.
The Socialist leader in Andalusia, Susana Díaz, on Sunday night urged the right-leaning parties not to allow Spain to become the latest European country in which a far-right party takes a front-line role in politics.
“There’s a clear regress of the left in Andalusia, but the most worrying change is the entrance of a far-right party,” she said.
One of the first to congratulate Vox on its result in Andalusia was Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s far right, who took to Twitter to praise “a very significant result for a young and dynamic movement.”
Polls had predicted that Ms. Díaz and her Socialist party would win enough seats to remain in office, even if she was expected to fall short of a majority.
The party’s surprising setback in Andalusia also lowers the odds that Mr. Sánchez will be able to stay in office in Madrid, where his grip on power was already tenuous. The Socialists hold only a quarter of the seats in Parliament, and the vote in Andalusia on Sunday was seen as a litmus test for Mr. Sánchez after his recent failure to secure sufficient parliamentary support for the next Spanish budget.
Ahead of the expected coalition negotiations in Andalusia, neither the Popular Party nor Ciudadanos on Sunday ruled out joining forces with Vox to oust the Socialists.
“It’s a historic day that allows us all to abandon 40 years of Socialist government in Andalusia,” said Juan Marín, the regional leader of Ciudadanos.
Though the Spanish economy done better since a banking bailout in 2012, Andalusia remains a bleak spot in terms of economic performance, and has high unemployment. With about 900,000 people out of work, the region has a joblessness rate of almost 23 percent, compared with a national rate of 14.8 percent.
The Socialists have also been plagued by major corruption scandals, including over the payment by Andalusia’s previous governing Socialist politicians, in concert with union officials, of millions in fictitious early retirement benefits to affiliates and relatives.
Source : Nytimes
