Spain’s ruling Socialists may have lost power in the country’s key regions of Valencia and Aragon in Sunday’s local elections, with around 30% of the votes counted, showing electoral vulnerability ahead of an end-of-year general election.
Issued on:
In big cities such as Valencia and Seville, where mayors were also elected, the count was almost completed and most turned to the conservative People’s Party, which also won an absolute majority in the city of Madrid.
Barcelona was an outlier among big cities, with the most voted party a pro-independence party by such a narrow margin that it will need an agreement with the Socialist Party (PSOE)to unseat the current mayor, far-left Ada Colau.
The tally in the regions, known as autonomous communities, showed tighter figures, but most of those now run by the PSOE – which governs the country in a coalition with the far-left Unidas Podemos – could swing to the right with a narrow margin.
The gains for the People’s Party (PP) could unseat the current left-wing coalition if replicated later in the year, though to take control of regions the PP will likely have to form coalitions with the far-right Vox.
The numbers showed few clear majorities, except in the Madrid region, where regional president Isabel Diaz Ayuso of the PP likely won re-election with an absolute majority.
If confirmed, a defeat for the socialists in the Valencia region, with a population of almost five million, would represent a major setback for the PSOE.
Campaigning had been marked by several controversies, from allegations of voter fraud in small towns to an unprecedented case of kidnapping.
The counting showed a return to a two-party system dominated by the PSOE and PP after a decade of greater involvement by smaller parties such as the left-wing Podemos and centrist Ciudadanos, which appeared largely to have lost its seats to the PP.
(REUTERS)
For all the latest health News Click Here
