Specter of right-wing entering Spanish government fades after inconclusive national election

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Spain's Vox party, with its ultra-nationalist bent, lost support among voters in Sunday's election, dashing its hopes to be a kingmaker and enter a governing coalition that would have given the far-right its first share of power in Spain since Francisco Franco's 20th century dictatorship. The mainstream conservative Popular Party won the election, but performed well below polling data that had forecast it could oust Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez if it formed a government with Vox as a junior partner. Even though Sanchez's Socialists finished second, they and their allied parties celebrated the outcome as a victory since their combined forces gained slightly more seats than the Popular Party and Vox.

The bloc that would likely support Sanchez totaled 172 seats, while that the right had 170. «It was a Pyrrhic victory for the Popular Party, which is unable to form a government,» political analyst Veronica Fumanal said, adding, «I see a deadlock scenario in the Parliament.» The closer-than-expected outcome was likely to produce weeks of political jockeying and uncertainty over Spain's future leadership. Socialist voter Delphine Fernandez said she hopes Sanchez can stay in power.

She is crossing her fingers that she and the 37 million Spaniards called to vote don't have to do it all over again like in 2019, when Sanchez had to score back-to-back election victories before he was able to forge a coalition government. «It was always going to be difficult. Now we are (practically) tied, but let's see if we can still govern,» said Fernandez, a lawyer.