Socialist Party Sees Deep Losses in Spain Elections

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/26/world/europe/spain-elections-socialist.html

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SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, Spain — Spain’s main opposition Socialist Party suffered significant defeats in two regional elections on Sunday, increasing pressure on the party leader, Pedro Sánchez, to negotiate an end to the nine-month deadlock in Spain’s national politics.

Sunday’s regional elections were won by the leaders of the two incumbent parties: the Popular Party in northwestern Galicia and the Basque Nationalist Party in the Basque region, which borders France.

At a time of political impasse in Madrid, the regional votes were also being watched to see whether Spain’s four national parties could soon end their squabbling over how to form a new government. The deadlock is threatening to force an unprecedented third national vote this December, a year after the first inconclusive election was held.

The stalemate reflects in large part the emergence of two parties — Ciudadanos and the far-left Podemos — which won seats in Spain’s national Parliament for the first time in December. This prevented both of Spain’s two traditional parties — the Popular Party and the Socialists, which have alternated in office for over three decades — from leading a new government. At the same time, Mariano Rajoy, the caretaker conservative prime minister, and Mr. Sánchez have failed to discuss forming their own coalition.

Mr. Rajoy has maintained that he should be allowed to remain in office after his Popular Party lost its parliamentary majority last year but still won the most votes in the two inconclusive elections, in December and then in June.

Mr. Rajoy will be comforted by the Popular Party’s victory in Galicia, his native region, even if the Galician president, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, ran a campaign that was heavily centered on his own merits rather than those of his national party boss. Mr. Núñez Feijóo’s party on Sunday won a third consecutive majority in Galicia’s regional Parliament, which in turn puts him among the front-runners to eventually succeed Mr. Rajoy as national leader.

“Galicia is today an exception in Spanish politics,” said Mr. Núñez Feijóo, underlining the ease with which his party will form a new government. The Galician people, he added, have “a lot of common sense, a concept that we want to export to the rest of Spain.”

Mr. Sánchez, on the other hand, could face an internal party rebellion in the coming month, ahead of an Oct. 31 deadline for forming a new national government. If the deadline is not met, a third national election will be held, probably on Christmas Day.

With 99 percent of the votes counted in Galicia, the Socialists had their worst-ever result, tying for second place with Marea, a coalition between Podemos and some smaller parties. The Socialists won 14 seats, down from 18 four years earlier. In the Basque region, the Socialist setback was even steeper, down to fourth place behind two far-left parties, ending with nine seats compared with 16 in the previous Basque election.

“A Socialist defeat in Galicia and the Basque Country will no doubt be used by the Popular Party and all the opponents of Sánchez to pour more fuel on the fire and hold him responsible for the political mess,” Ramón Iglesias Seijas, a retired technology teacher and a founder of the local branch of the Socialist Party in Santiago de Compostela, the Galician regional capital, said on Sunday. “The truth, however, is that the Socialists are not more responsible than others, but we’re just a more democratic party, willing to have an open internal debate.”

The deadlock in national politics has generated intense public frustration with politicians whose popularity was already seriously dented by several corruption cases.

But turnout on Sunday in Galicia was in line with the previous regional election, suggesting that regional politicians like Mr. Núñez Feijóo have managed to better weather disaffection among the electorate. In the Basque region, turnout was about 3 percentage points below that of the previous regional election.

“Politics has fallen into complete discredit, and the recent behavior of our politicians in Madrid has only made things worse,” said Guillerme Fernández García, a musician. “But I guess that our own politicians in Galicia at least feel a bit closer to us and the issues that really affect our lives.”