Spanish elections and politics III / Pedro Sánchez faces a new term as PM

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

RTVE says that 4,155,000 viewers watched the 'debate a tres' last night on TV, the largest moment being during the beginning of the "pactos" section at 11 PM, with over 4.6 million. Hopefully these people were convinced by Sanchez and Diaz to re-elect the government. Fingers crossed

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

PP and Boks have spent the whole campaign running on culture war nonsense, not surprising that voters are getting tired of it and turning back to the govt. It might turn out to be like America 2022 all over again. Knocking on wood

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

Remember folks: whenever the right is popular, it's because of media bias and astroturf campaigns targeted at uppity ignoramuses.

Could not have put it better myself! Let's see what happens.

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

Pleasently surprised the right didn't do that well, especially Fox losing votes compared to the last election.

If my reding is correct, a snap election later this year is the most likely outcome? Does Sanchez remain PM in the meantime or will a caretaker be appointed?

Yes, he is acting president until a government is officially invested

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

So Sanchez didn't lose, but he also didn't win. And Feijoo won, but he also lost. Don't you just love multi-party provincial D'Hondt?

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

So Sanchez didn't lose, but he also didn't win. And Feijoo won, but he also lost. Don't you just love multi-party provincial D'Hondt?

Feijóo definitely lost in the sense that there's no way on these numbers that he can form a government (although he made large gains, which is a win of sorts in a multi-party system), while Sánchez sort of won in the sense that a path seems to exist, though it's unlikely and new elections are probably likelier than not.

(Although Feijóo came very, very close; I think the question of just how left-wing the CERA vote is pretty critical. If PP can gain just 2 seats, then a Sánchez government is probably totally foreclosed; at that point Sánchez would need Junts to explicitly vote for him, and not just strategically abstain.)

If Junts votes for PP, then Vox is voting against them. Why would Vox allow an independentista party to prop up any government? They ran on banning them.

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

Damn, this place must be funny taking into consideration proximity of Marinaleda.

Can any Spaniards explain the situation here? How did this place go from anarchist commune to suburban Miami?

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

Sánchez descarta la repetición de elecciones: “La democracia encontrará la fórmula de la gobernabilidad”
El líder socialista niega la posibilidad de un bloqueo en la reunión de la ejecutiva del PSOE, en la que ha celebrado que “11 millones de personas han votado avance”

Sanchez discounts a repeat election: "Democracy will find the formula to govern"
The Socialist leader denies the possibility of an obstruction in a reunion of the PSOE executive, in which he celebrated that "11 million people voted to move forward"

Spaniards let me know if this no-professional-Spanish-knowledge Latino mistranslated the headline. Thanks

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

Did CC rule out supporting PP?  In Canary Islands they are in coalition together although that excludes Vox and I believe CC made clear they would not support one with them.

CC promised they would oppose any government which contains either Vox or Sumar

Coalición Canaria no apoyará gobiernos que integren a Vox o a Sumar
La diputada electa en la Cámara Baja, Cristina Valido, ha reiterado su negativa a apoyar ejecutivos que integren «a los extremos»

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

CC's position is very funny, since the only alternative to a right-wing or left-wing government is a grand coalition of PP and PSOE, where CC would not factor into the math or benefit whatsoever. I guess they are genuinely just being liberal centrist moderate heroes.

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If one needed any proof that Spain has a God with a sense of humor, it's that Carles Puigdemont is the key to form the government seeking his persecution.

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It seems like new elections are the only realistic outcome. Even if someone cobbles together an investiture, they will not be able to pass any meaningful legislation and will have to deal with mociones de censura from all over. Just need to make sure the electorate aren't too tired after an entire year of elections (28M + 23J + the 2nd GE)

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

Big oof from UPN

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

Well, it's kind of a rock and a hard place, since if PP dumps Feijoo for someone more exciting (or, at all exciting), then they look unstable and indecisive, but if they keep Feijoo... then they keep Feijoo.

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CC would surely be putting the "hero" in "moderate hero" if they actually do it

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Don Felipe has requested that Nunez Feijoo be the first to fail at the investiture. Enhorabuena!

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

COMUNICADO DE LA CASA DE S.M. EL REY UNA VEZ FINALIZADA LA RONDA DE CONSULTAS DE LOS DÍAS 21 Y 22 DE AGOSTO

[...]

Tercera.- El Partido Popular ha sido el grupo político que ha obtenido mayor número de escaños en las pasadas elecciones del 23 de julio.

En ese sentido, conviene señalar que, salvo en la Legislatura XI, en todas las elecciones generales celebradas desde la entrada en vigor de la Constitución, el candidato del grupo político que ha obtenido el mayor número de escaños ha sido el primero en ser propuesto por Su Majestad el Rey como candidato a la Presidencia del Gobierno. Esta práctica se ha ido convirtiendo con el paso de los años en una costumbre.

[...]

"Third.- The People's Party was the political group which obtained the greatest number of seats in the last election July 23.

Seeing this, it should be noted that, other than in the XI Legislature, in every general election held since the Constitution entered into force, the candidate of the political group which obtained the greatest number of seats has been the first to be proposed by His Majesty the King as a candidate for the Presidency of the Government. This practice, over the years, has become the custom."

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

I think it's fine for the King to put Feijoo out of his misery like this

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

It's a pattern of behavior. Just on that same day, he was grabbing himself inappropriately 2 seats down from the Queen and the 16 year old Princess Sofia, which he himself thought was embarrassing enough to apologize for at the same press conference where he flip flopped on resigning. He's a gross machista freak, like so many people in the Hispanic world, and explanations are not excuses. Hermoso was on an Instagram livestream immediately afterwards where she said she didn't like it. Now this man has made everyone in Spain forget about the fact that they won a World Cup.

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

The comparison of Boks & C's is not accurate to real life, but I can understand how you got there if you consume only left-wing Spanish content. It's true that they are pro-Spain, but their anti-nationalist ideology was mainly in their pursuit of Spain being just 1 member of a larger European federal state. C's was liberal and even left-leaning at the beginning, and they won their best performance when they cast themselves as the centrist pragmatic liberals in the room willing to deal with anybody. They turned rightwards when the Catalan crisis happened, and immediately began to lose their support outside of Catalunya (though that didn't last long either), leading to their current situation where they didn't even bother competing in the 23J election. 

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

Feijóo se compromete a convocar elecciones en dos años si Sánchez le permite gobernar y ofrece seis pactos de Estado
Feijóo promises to call elections in 2 years if Sánchez allows him to govern and [Feijóo] offers six pactos de Estado*

(* I wasn't sure how to translate "pacto de Estado" but it's basically 6 "bipartisan" (in American terms, I know bipartidismo means something in Spain but that's not what I mean) pieces of legislation that both PP and PSOE can agree on.)

[...] "In this way, the influence sought by the independentista parties would be deactivated and Spain could guarantee equal treatment for Spaniards," PP sources signal.

For this, the candidate to the investiture has asked the PSOE secretary-general to allow his election as President of the Government and to agree to six pactos de Estado in a Legislature which will last 2 years. Facing the "risk" of a general election this January, the 1st-place winner of the most recent election offers a mandate of 24 months to tackle pending reforms and, once that time has passed, to call new elections, unless otherwise agreed between the parties.

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

Oh and I forgot to include that PSOE immediately rejected this proposal lol.

El PP lamenta el "no es no" de Sánchez a su propuesta y el PSOE lo acusa de "estar pensando en salvar su pellejo"
PP laments the "no means no" of Sánchez to their proposal and PSOE accuses them of "thinking on saving their skins"

El PSOE, sobre la oferta de Feijóo: “Nos ofrece un pacto con Vox para derogar el sanchismo en dos años”
PSOE, on Feijóo's proposal: "They offer us a coalition with Vox to abolish Sanchismo in 2 years"

My favorite quote of this situation came from Pilar Alegría the PSOE spokeswoman: "Ha pasado de querer derogar el sanchismo a rogar al sanchismo" "They have gone from wanting to abolish Sanchismo to begging Sanchismo." Obviously the derogar-a rogar pun works better in Spanish but you get the meaning.

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

Well now that Feijoo has legitimized the Junts and ERC by negotiating with them, it is going to be a lot easier for Sanchez to cut a deal with them and justify it. Even my very conservative grandmother now supports amnesty for the Catalan referendum organizers if it means putting the issue in the past and getting the government moving, and she was a big supporter of Rajoy's crackdown 6 years ago.

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

Why do PP insist on acting like the opposition already? They are still technically up for a vote.

Does not reflect well on their leadership ability and reveals their cynicism (such cynicism which would probably be forgivable if they owned up to the fact they have no chance)

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

Today was the debate on the investidura de Núñez Feijóo. I did not get to watch much of it, but I did watch the sections where Óscar Puente called out PP corruption, and where Feijóo and Rufián got into a back and forth. It seemed pretty fun. Can't wait for tomorrow.

It is quite funny that the question of amnesty laws has brought out the likes of Aznar and González, even if it makes sense given how central it is to the modern Spanish state. This makes me wonder, what is their reputation today both among society at large and within their respective parties, especially the more ideological and less moderate factions?

I can't speak to the general vibe of these two in Spanish society, but I know that back during the 2016 PSOE civil war, González was part of the anti-Sánchez establishment pushing Susana Díaz. I figure an actual Spaniard can fill in the blanks.