pp

Alternative left coalition ‘En Comú Podem’ has won the 2016 Spanish Elections in Catalonia. The party, which has Barcelona mayor Ada Colau as its strongest asset, obtained 12 MPs, the same number of MPs as in the last Spanish Elections, held in December 2015. Pro-independence left-wing ERC also repeated the same results as 2015, with 9 seats and CDC, which ran under the name ‘Democràcia i Llibertat’ in the last Spanish Elections, also got the same result and obtained 8 MPs. The Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) added one seat to their 7 existing seats in the Spanish Parliament, the Conservative People’s Party (PP) got 6 MPs, one more than in the last Elections, and Spanish Unionist Ciutadans was the only party to lose a seat and has now 4 MPs. In the whole of Spain PP again won the elections and improved their results, with 137 MPs, 14 more than in December 2015. Thus, the political panorama in Catalonia and Spain remains the same as after the last Spanish Elections.

The Spanish Minister of Industry, José Manuel Soria, presented this Friday his “irrevocable resignation” after his involvement in U.K. Lines, an offshore firm set up by the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca. “All political activity should be exemplary, including when it comes to providing explanations”, Soria said in an e-mailed statement this Friday. “When that is not the case, you have to take responsibility accordingly”, he added. Soria referred to the “succession of mistakes committed during the last days” in relation to his confusing explanations regarding his business activities before 1995, when he started his political career. Soria also gave uphis seat in the Spanish Parliament and quit the presidency of the currently governing People’s Party (PP) in the Canary Islands, his home region.

The time for the main Spanish parties to continue negotiating and agree to form new government appears to be coming to an end. To explore if any of the candidates is likely to obtain the necessary support to be invested as new Spanish President, Philip VI announced a new round of meetings to take place on the 25^th and 26^th of April. If the formations fail to reach an agreement and the investiture deadlock continues, the Royal Household will “procced to the dissolution of both chambers”, the Spanish Parliament and the Senate, “and call for new elections within the terms established by the Spanish Constitution”. Conservative People’s Party (PP) leader, Mariano Rajoy, has been acting as Spanish President since the 20^th of December 2015, as elections showed a fragmented scenario, where none of the parties obtained an absolute majority nor achieved any agreement to form government.

The pro-independence forces in the Catalan Parliament, governing cross-party list ‘Junts Pel Sí’ and radical left CUP, reaffirmed this Thursday the agreement to start building the Catalan Republic, which was approved by the Catalan Chamber on the 9th of November and later suspended by the Spanish Constitutional Court (TC). Both parties have supported the motion presented by CUP which aimed to relight the proposal. Thus, 71 MPs of the 135 sitting in the Parliament voted in favour, while the 11 MPs from alternative left ‘Catalunya Sí que es Pot’ have abstained. Spanish Unionist ‘Ciutadans’, Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) and Catalan People’s Party (PPC), which is the Catalan branch of the conservative and current governing party in Spain PP, voted against the motion. “We are here to do what we said we would do” stated ‘Junts Pel Sí’ MP, songwriter and anti-Franco activist, Lluís Llach. On the other hand, PPC’s Xavier García Albiol stated that the vote didn’t mean anything as “Catalonia will continue to be Spain, whether you like it or not”.

Spanish Socialist leader Pedro Sánchez was rejected again this Friday by the Spanish Parliament. The Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE)’s candidate to form a new government in Spain got only 131 votes in favour, from the 350-seat Spanish Parliament. As opposed to in the first round of the investiture debate, the MP from the Canarian Coalition (CC) voted in favour of Sánchez rather than abstaining. The other parties in the Spanish Parliament, the current governing party, the conservative People’s Party (PP), alternative left Podemos and Catalan pro-independence parties ERC and ‘Democràcia i Llibertat’ voted against his investiture, totalling 219 votes. Now it will be time for Spain’s King, Philip VII, to decide the further steps to be taken. 

Spanish Socialist leader Pedro Sánchez has failed in his effort to be invested in the first round of the Spanish Investiture debate. He only obtained the support 130 MPs in the 350-seats Spanish Parliament. The 90 MPs from Sánchez’s own party, Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) and the 40 from Unionist Ciutadans voted in favour, the MP from Canary Coalition (CC) abstained from voting and all the other parties, including the current governing party, conservative People’s Party, alternative left Podemos and Catalan pro-independence parties ERC and ‘Democràcia i Llibertat’ voted against his investiture. The next round in voting will take place on Friday. During the investiture debate, Sánchez invited PP and Podemos to join his alliance with Ciutadans and assured that he will “never” accept a referendum in Catalonia as it would be “the worst way” to break Spain apart. For his part, Catalan President Carles Puigdemont stated that Sánchez’s failure confirms that there is no alternatSive for Catalonia other than to push for independence.

Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) leader Pedro Sánchez opened this Tuesday the first round of the investiture debate to instate a new Spanish President. During his speech, Sánchez assured that to make “the change” possible it is necessary to reach “a majoritarian agreement” and “leave Mr. Rajoy’s and the People’s Party’s politics behind”. The candidate to form government also stressed that PSOE “doesn’t aim to impose anything and has no red lines” in reference to alternative left Podemos, which has refused to support the agreement reached by PSOE and anti-Catalan nationalism Ciutadans. Sánchez is far from the 176 votes required to be invested on Wednesday, as he has only secured the 90 votes of his own party, 40 from Ciutadans and 1 from the Canary Coalition (CC).

“Defending national unity” is one of the key points that current Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy established in the People’s Party (PP) proposal for reaching agreements in order to form a stable government in Spain. A national unity “which is threatened”, according to Rajoy. Besides fighting Catalonia’s push for independence, Rajoy’s proposal also includes fighting towards economic recovery, strengthening the basis of the welfare state, fighting against terrorism and reinforcing the democratic bond between citizens and politicians. PP’s leader handed over the document to anti-Catalan nationalism Ciutadans leader Albert Rivera, with whom he held a meeting today. The proposal has also been sent to Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) leader Pedro Sánchez, who is currently attempting to form government. 

This Wednesday, Spain’s king Philip VI requested Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) leader Pedro Sánchez to start the negotiations with the other groups in the Spanish Parliament so that the first investiture debate can take place. Sánchez assured that he is “aware of the difficulties” but expressed his will to “unblock the current situation” in Spain. PSOE obtained 90 seats from the 350 in the Spanish Parliament and would therefore need the support of both alternative left ‘Podemos’ (68 seats) and anti-Catalan nationalism Ciutadans (40 seats) to reach the absolute majority. However, Podemos has openly expressed its support for holding a referendum in Spain, while both PSOE and Ciutadans have repeatedly rejected the possibility of holding such a poll. The Conservative People’s Party (PP), the party currently governing Spain, obtained 123 MPs in the 20^th of December Spanish elections. 

Current Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy insisted that the Spanish Government’s legal services will “write a report” to evaluate the procedure used in new Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont’s, take office. During the ceremony, Puigdemont didn’t mention Spain’s King nor the Spanish Constitution. “According to this report we will make the appropriate decisions, following the current legislation and the general interests of all the Spanish citizens” he warned. Despite petitions from he other groups in Spanish Parliament, Rajoy admitted that “so far” he “doesn’t intend” to meet with Puigdemont. 

The Spanish Socialist Party, PSOE, will “tackle its legitimate responsibility” to offer an alternative government to the ruling People’s Party but not “at any price”. “We won’t dialogue on questions such as territorial integrity” warned PSOE’s leader Pedro Sánchez. “The coexistence crisis in Catalonia will only be solved with a constitutional reform and not with a referendum on breaking Spain apart” as this would be “the start of new breakdowns”, he stated. In relation to this, Sánchez assured that PSOE won’t reach any agreement with any party which supports a referendum, referring to alternative left Podemos. “We are for the right to decide but for all Spanish citizens”, he stated and assured that the “brightest pages in Spain’s history” have been written through dialogue. 

The results of the 20-D Spanish Elections will force the political parties to reach agreements, as none of them have obtained an absolute majority of 175 MPs. Anti-Catalan nationalism ‘Ciutadans’, which obtained 40 MPs in the 20-D, have proposed a coalition whereby they, the conservative People’s Party (PP) and the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) would unite against “those who want to break the country apart”. “If there isn’t a roadmap for change, there won’t ever be stability and the populists will take advantage of our system’s decadence” warned Ciutadans’ leader, Albert Rivera, and added that “Spain is not negotiable”. Ciutadans’ offer comes after the PSOE refused the PP’s proposal to reach an agreement. The PSOE’s leader, Pedro Sánchez, insisted on their ‘no’ to Mariano Rajoy and assured that they would work to form a government of change. 

The party led by Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has obtained 123 MPs from the 350 in the Spanish Parliament, which represents a decline of 63 seats in comparison to the last Spanish Elections. The Spanish Socialist Party, PSOE, has obtained 90 seats, 20 less than in 2011 and the two new parties running for the Spanish Elections for the first time, alternative left Podemos and anti-Catalan nationalism Ciutadans, got 68 and 40 seats respectively. In Catalonia, alternative left coalition En Comú Podem has won the elections, obtaining 12 MPs. Pro-independence left wing ERC has obtained 9 MPs, three times more than in the 2011 elections. Democràcia i Llibertat got 8 MPs and Catalan Socialist Party 7 MPs, half of what they obtained in 2011. Ciutadans have secured 5 representatives in their first time running for the Spanish Elections, the same number of seats as the Catalan People’s Party (PPC). The overall turnout in the whole of Spain was 73.22%.

This Sunday, more than 35 million Spanish citizens are entitled to elect the 350 MPs in the Spanish Parliament and the 208 members of the Senate. Election Day will take place less than three months after the 27-S Catalan elections, which saw the victory of pro-independence forces – a fact that has definitely focused the electoral campaign and the main parties’ programmes. The 20-D Spanish Elections are also set to be crucial as they may mark the end of the two-party system in Spain comprised of the Conservative People’s Party, PP, and the Spanish Socialist Party, PSOE, which have alternated in the Spanish government since 1982. Two new parties are set to burst into the Spanish Parliament and may have a key role in the post-electoral agreements: anti-Catalan nationalism ‘Ciutadans’ and alternative left ‘Podemos’. They have both shown their force and popular support in the past European, regional and local elections.

The campaign for the upcoming Spanish elections has begun. On the 20^th of December Spaniards will elect 558 of the 616 seats in Spanish bicameral Parliament: 350 for the Spanish Parliament and 208 for the Senate. The strategy regarding Catalonia and its push for independence is set to be a crucial battlefield - many parties have expressed their support or open opposition to Catalonia's aspirations and the reform of the Spanish Constitution to improve Spain's current territorial organisation has also been the focus of the main parties' programmes. Besides this debate, the upcoming elections are set to mark the end of the two-party system, represented by People's Party (PP) and Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE), which have alternated in the Spanish government since 1982. Anti-Catalan nationalism ‘Ciutadans’ and alternative left ‘Podemos’ have already shown their force and popular support in the past European, Regional and Local elections and are likely to burst into the Spanish Parliament, forcing the main parties to reach agreements.