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POLITICS

Half of Spaniards in favour of a PP-PSOE coalition to end election deadlock: study

Approximately half of Spanish voters are in favour of Spain’s main right and left-wing parties forming an unprecedented coalition and thus avoid another general election, a new survey suggests. 

Half of Spaniards in favour of a PP-PSOE coalition to end election deadlock: study
Pedro Sánchez and Alberto Núñez Feijóo. PP-PSOE coalitions have taken place many times on a regional and local level in Spain, could now be the time to adopt the same approach at a national level? (Photo by Pierre-Philippe MARCOU / AFP)

It’s been nine days since Spain’s July 23rd general election took place and the surprise ‘draw’ between the right-wing Popular Party and the Socialists.

READ MORE: If the PP was most voted party, why haven’t they won Spain’s election?

Since then, candidates Feijóo and Sánchez have pushed for coalitions with smaller parties to gain crucial parliamentary seats that could edge them closer to a majority, Catalan separatist parties have stated they will only give Sánchez’s left-wing block support in return for another independence referendum, and the pending votes from Spaniards overseas have been recounted (with an extra seat gained by the PP). 

In truth the situation is no clearer than it was a week ago, and although the support of Canary nationalist party Coalición Canaria could help Sánchez gain the much sought-after investiture, the prospect of another general election is looming. 

Spain has suffered from chronic political instability for eight years, which may partly explain the results of a recent survey by Spanish bank BBVA.

According to the Fundación BBVA de Cultura Política study, 58 percent of Spaniards are in favour of the Popular Party and the PSOE forming a State Pact which would see both parties decide who governs and how without Spaniards having to cast their votes once again. 

A pacto de Estado is when parties with opposing political views agree the long-term action of the State regarding a particular matter. 

There have been several other State Pacts in Spain since the country became a democracy, regarding public pensions, terrorism and gender violence – this time it would be over forming a coalition or deciding who takes power. 

BBVA’s survey also found that 45 percent of Spaniards would view a coalition between the main centre-right and the centre-left parties “positively”, although 84 percent responded that either a State Pact or a PP-PSOE coalition were “improbable”. 

What is rather revealing is that the survey was carried out between April 12th and July 21st, prior to the general election, reflecting how many Spaniards had already grown tired of the constant political deadlocks that have been happening in the country over the past decade.

Spaniards have had to vote in general elections five times since 2015 and and no party has gained an absolute majority since 2011.

Although a coalition between the right and left in Spain may seem “improbable” to most, political commentators have pointed to Germany as an example that such alliances between parties with opposing views are perfectly feasible. 

There hasn’t been a single party that’s gained an absolute majority in Germany since 1953, and the current coalition government led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz is made up of centre-left and centre-right parties. 

PP-PSOE coalitions have taken place numerous times on a regional and local level in Spain, could now be the time to adopt the same approach at a national level? That would depend on who you ask. 

Twenty-three percent of respondents to BBVA’s survey said they would prefer a single party to govern in Spain.

And despite Spanish voters’ apparent openness to what’s been called ‘the great coalition’ (PP-PSOE), when given the choice of a coalition government that’s either fully right wing, fully left wing or left and right wing, only 12 percent of respondents opted for the latter. 

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POLITICS

Spain rejects claim of involvement in plot to ‘destabilise’ Venezuela

Spain has rejected allegations by Venezuela that Madrid was involved in a plot to destabilise Maduro's government, following the arrest of two Spanish nationals in the Latin American country.

Spain rejects claim of involvement in plot to 'destabilise' Venezuela

“Spain denies and categorically rejects any insinuation that it is involved in a political destabilisation operation in Venezuela,” the source told AFP after three Americans, two Spaniards and a Czech citizen were detained in Venezuela and accused of involvement in a plot against the government.

The government has “confirmed” that the two Spanish detainees are not part of Spain’s CNI spy agency “or any other state body”, the source added.

“Spain defends a democratic and peaceful solution to the situation in Venezuela,” the source said.

Venezuela’s Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said Saturday that the foreign nationals were being held on suspicion of planning an attack on President Nicolas Maduro and his government.

He said two Spaniards were recently detained in Puerto Ayacucho in the southwest over the alleged plot linked to intelligence agencies in the United States and Spain as well as to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.

A US State Department spokesperson said Saturday that “any claims of US involvement in a plot to overthrow Maduro are categorically false”.

The arrests come amid heightened tensions between Venezuela and both the United States and Spain over Venezuela’s disputed July 28 presidential election, which the country’s opposition accuses President Nicolas Maduro of stealing.

Maduro, who succeeded iconic left-wing leader Hugo Chávez on his death in 2013, insists he won a third term but failed to release detailed voting tallies to back his claim.

The two Spaniards, Andrés Martínez Adasme and José María Basoa, were on holiday in Venezuela, Adasme’s father told daily Spanish newspaper El Mundo.

“My son does not work for the CNI, of course not. We are waiting for information from the consulate and embassy. We still do not know what they are accused of or the reason for their arrest,” he added.

Tensions between Caracas and former colonial power Spain rose sharply after Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, 75, went into exile in Spain a week ago, after being threatened with arrest.

Earlier this week Caracas recalled its ambassador to Madrid for consultations and summoned Spain’s envoy to Venezuela for talks after a Spanish minister accused Maduro of running a “dictatorship.”

Venezuela was also angered by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s decision to meet with Gonzalez Urrutia and warned Spain against any “interference” in its affairs.

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