Spain appears destined for painful political negotiations after Sunday’s
elections, when no single party won
enough parliamentary seats to form
a government.
Prospects for coalition-building now remain uncertain. With over 99% of the vote counted, the center right Partido Popular (PP) is set to come in first, winning 136 seats.
The upstart far right Vox party, a possible coalition partner to PP, is forecast to win 33 seats.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s ruling center-left Socialist party meanwhile is on course to win 122 seats, with likely coalition partners Sumar at 31 seats.
In order to govern, a party or coalition must achieve a working majority of 176 seats in the 350-seat legislature.
PP leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo said he was “very proud” during a speech at party headquarters, lauding the fact that his party’s vote share increased from 21% to 33%.
Despite a party-like atmosphere at the PP headquarters, supporters of the opposition party told CNN they had expected a clearer victory.
.
“We thought we would get much more,”
said Mercedes Gónzalez, an English
professor in Madrid. (Sanchez) has to make deals with the pro independence parties in Catalonia and the Basque Country to win investiture,” Saludes added.