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Rajoy claims mandate to start talks on forming new Spanish government
That sort of combination could lead to a government that would try to roll back highly unpopular austerity measures imposed over last four years by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.
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After the election results were announced, Rajoy confirmed he would still try to form an administration and said his party was “still the number one force”.
Markets were spooked by the political uncertainty and nervous investors moved out of Spanish assets, sending the country’s shares lower and benchmark bond yields higher.
Born in the Madrid working class neighbourhood of Vallecas where he still lives in a modest flat, his parents gave him the name of PSOE founder Pablo Iglesias Posse – in front of whose grave they met. Being exposed to politics from an early age – his father was jailed under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco – Mr. Iglesias was active in the communist youth and anti-globalisation movements before the Indignants protest wave in 2011. Meanwhile, the PSOE under Pedro Sanchez – which arrived second in the elections – will not under any circumstances support Rajoy as prime minister, party secretary Cesar Luena said. “At best, Spain will end up with a weak government”.
In this election, two new parties, the centrist Ciudadanos (Citizens) Party and the socialist Podemos (We Can) Party gained several seats in Parliament and upended the country’s political system. “The Spanish people have said something else clear: That a new political era is beginning in Spain”.
But the Socialists and Podemos quickly said that they would reject a new government led by the 60-year-old Rajoy.
“The results are so close, but Spain is not like Germany and will not form a grand coalition”, said Rodrigo Serrano, a retired 67-year-old and former coach company owner at a Ciudadanos supporters event in Madrid.
“It’s a new political stage with new rules and more actors”, he told Onda Cero Monday.
In the aftermath of the financial crisis and a raft of corruption allegations against the establishment parties, Podemos and Ciudadanos emerged to challenge their hegemony, mirroring the disruption of traditional politics in many western democracies, from Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders in the United States to Alexis Tsipras in Greece and France’s Marine Le Pen.
Rajoy laid out his red lines for a dialogue with rivals, saying he would talk to those that wanted to preserve Spanish unity – a stance that would rule out Podemos, which supports a referendum on independence in the Catalonia region.
However, analysts are warning an alliance with either the PP or Socialists would still leave the grouping short of an overall majority.
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“Spaniards demand a sense of responsibility”, Ciudadanos leader Albert Rivera said. “But it’s hard to see that happening”.