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SPAIN-VOTE
Spain votes in repeat general election amid Catalonia tensions
MADRID, Nov 10, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Spain voted Sunday in its fourth general
election in as many years amid heightened tensions over Catalonia’s
separatist push, an issue that has fuelled a surge in support for upstart
far-right party Vox.
The repeat polls were called after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez failed to
secure support from other parties following an inconclusive election in April
which saw his Socialist party win the most votes, but no working majority in
parliament.
Opinion polls however suggest this new election will fail to break the
deadlock. Neither the left nor the right look likely to win a ruling majority
in Spain’s 350-seat parliament.
The Socialists look set to finish top again, but with slightly fewer seats
than the 123 they picked up in April. The main opposition conservative
Popular Party (PP) may also strengthen their parliamentary presence. But the
most striking development could be the rise of the far-right Vox party, which
might even jump to third-largest in parliament, according to recent polling.
“More ungovernability or stability: Spaniards choose,” wrote conservative
newspaper ABC on its front page Sunday.
Voting stations opened at 9:00 am (0800 GMT) and will close at 8:00 pm,
with results expected a few hours later.
The election comes as Spain finds itself increasingly polarised by the
Catalan crisis, which has deepened in recent weeks.
Less than a month ago, Spain’s Supreme Court sentenced nine Catalan
separatist leaders to lengthy jail terms over their role in a failed 2017
independence bid, sparking days of angry street protests in Barcelona and
other Catalan cities that sometimes turned violent.
More than 600 people were injured in the protests, which saw demonstrators
torching barricades and throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at police.
– ‘Drastic solutions are needed’ –
Sanchez said Madrid had sent a “significant” number of security forces to
the northeastern region to ensure the unrest did not disrupt voting in
Catalonia. During a TV election debate PP leader Pablo Casado called for a
“real government that will put order in Catalonia”.
But the toughest line against the Catalan separatists has come from Vox
leader Santiago Abascal.
“Drastic solutions are needed,” he said during his final campaign rally on
Friday night in Madrid.
He then repeated his pledge to end the Catalan crisis by suspending
Catalonia’s regional autonomy, banning separatist parties and arresting its
regional president, Quim Torra, who has vowed to continue the secession
drive.
The crowd responded by chanting “Torra to the dungeon”.
At the rally, Ana Escobedo said she has voted for the PP in the past but
was drawn to Vox because of its hard line on Catalonia as well as illegal
immigration.
“I think we heed to take a heavy hand,” she said.
Vox won 24 seats in parliament in the last election in April, in the first
significant showing by a far-right faction since Spain’s return to democracy
following the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975.
This time Vox could double that number, polls suggest.
– More paralysis? –
In recent days, Sanchez has repeatedly raised the alarm about Vox’s
“aggressive ultra-rightwing” policies, warning the party would drag the
country back to the dark days of Franco’s dictatorship.
“Spain needs a progressive government that puts the brakes on the far-
right and a government that puts the brakes on the extremists also here in
Catalonia, who are the separatists,” he said during his final campaign rally
in Barcelona on Friday.
Spain has been caught in political paralysis since the election of
December 2015 when far-left Podemos and business-friendly Ciudadanos entered
parliament.
That put an end to decades of dominance of the two main parties, the PP
and the Socialists, in the eurozone’s fourth-largest economy.
But there is a risk Sunday’s vote will only prolong the agony.
With no single party able to secure the required 176 seats for a majority,
the Socialists are likely to opt for a minority government, ING analyst
Steven Trypsteen said.
“Voting intentions appear to have changed since the April election. But
these changes will not make it easier to form a government, so the political
situation is likely to remain difficult after this weekend’s vote,” he added.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1450 hrs