Socialists win regional elections in Andalusia but lose the government

USPA NEWS - The Socialist Party won the regional elections in Andalusia held on Sunday, December 2, the first of an election year that, next May, will renew municipalities, regional governments and the European Parliament. But the Socialists lose 14 deputies with respect to the previous elections and remain with 33 seats in the regional Parliament.

The little socialist victory does not allow this party to secure the government of Andalusia, where it has been hegemonic for more than two decades. The conservative Popular Party, with 26 seats, seven fewer than in the previous elections and 250,000 fewer votes than in the previous elections, is consolidated as the second force in the region and threatens the continuity of socialism in the Andalusian government. The key to governance will be, on the one hand, the centrist party Citizens, which, with 21 deputies, wins 12 seats, and the ultra-rightist Vox, which for the first time gets representation in a Parliament and gets 12 deputies. Lastly, the Adelante Andalucía (Go Andalusia) coalition, held by the extreme left party Podemos (We Can), won 17 seats, three less than in the previous elections.

The participation in the elections was low, just over 46 percent. The Socialists won 28.6 percent of the votes and the conservatives of the Popular Party, just 20%. The results of these elections have a predictive value, since it is the first examination of the Socialists after the arrival of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to the Government of Spain. They represent a serious blow to the aspirations of Pedro Sanchez to consolidate their project and may affect the call for legislative elections, scheduled for 2020. Before, in May 2019, in Spain local, regional and European elections will be held.

With the fragmentation of the Andalusian Parliament, the natural alliance between the Socialist Party and Adelante Andalucía would not allow to govern the Socialists. The center-right alliance between the conservative Popular Party, the centrist Citizens and the extreme right of Vox, subjected to pressure with a view to the next legislative by the distance separating Citizens and Vox, would give the Popular Party the government of Andalusia, supported by 59 deputies, above the 55 that are needed for the absolute majority. A period of negotiations between parties is opened and, for now, everything is in the air.