Spain’s third parliamentary election in less than four years did little to dispel uncertainty over the political future of the eurozone’s fourth largest economy.
LISBON, Portugal — Spain’s third parliamentary election in less than four years did little to dispel uncertainty over the political future of the eurozone’s fourth largest economy.
The center-left Socialist party won re-election in Sunday’s ballot, collecting nearly 29% of votes, and will try to form a government. It would be one of only a handful of socialist governments in the European Union.
But with only 123 seats in the 350-seat Congress of Deputies, Spain’s parliament, it needs to negotiate the support of smaller rival parties to pass legislation.
« Forming a government will be far from straightforward, » Antonio Barroso, an analyst with the London-based Teneo Intelligence consultancy firm, said in a commentary Monday.
Even an alliance with the far-left, anti-austerity party United We Can wouldn’t give the Socialists the key number of 176 seats.
That means incumbent prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, will need to barter with smaller parties to enact his administration’s ambitions and stay in power for the four-year mandate.
