The socialist prime minister Pedro Sánchez today announced the surprise call of early legislative elections on July 23 in Spain. The decision follows the defeat of the left (Sanchez’s party) against the conservatives in the local electoral round which was held over the weekend of May 27-28. During a televised speech, Sanchez announced that he had communicated to King Felipe VI, head of state, his “decision to dissolve Parliament and to proceed with the calling of general elections” to be held “Sunday 23 July”.
The vote close to the Spanish presidency of the EU
“I will be brief and I will also try to be very clear,” said the Spanish prime minister at the beginning of an institutional declaration announced only an hour earlier. “I just had a meeting with His Majesty the King, during which I communicated to the head of state the decision to convene a Council of Ministers this afternoon to dissolve the Courts and call general elections,” he said. The political elections will be held close to the beginning of the Spanish semester of presidency of the European Union.
“I took this decision in the light of yesterday’s election results,” explained Sánchez in reference to the hard defeats suffered by his Socialist Party and other left-wing formations in several important regions and municipalities to the advantage, in several cases, of the Popular Party and by Vox. “Even if yesterday’s vote was regional and local, the meaning of the result goes further – he added – and as prime minister and general secretary of the Socialist Party, I take it personally”.
On the European presidency, Sánchez said that Spain “is about to assume a very important responsibility” and that yesterday’s outcome leads to “suggesting a clarification” on the will of the Spaniards, on the “policies that the government must apply” and “on the political forces that must guide this phase. Sánchez then also said that yesterday’s elections result in the fact that “magnificent regional presidents and socialist mayors will see themselves sidelined with impeccable management” and that “several institutions” will pass into the hands of “Pp and Vox”.
The right-wing boom in local elections
Sanchez’s choice comes following a night of success for the right in different regions of Spain. In at least 3 of the 12 autonomous communities in which local elections took place on Sunday, the People’s Party (PP) has in fact obtained the numbers to oust the center-left from the government, in the event of an agreement with the ultra-conservatives of Vox. According to the official ballots, now in an advanced stage everywhere, this scenario is highly probable in the Valencian Community, in Aragon and in the Balearic Islands, all territories with outgoing socialist governors.