Jason MoorePalma13/11/2019 09:49
TW
0

Better late than never. Pablo Iglesias, leader of the far left Podemos party in Spain, said after the general elections on Sunday that if socialist leader, Pedro Sanchez, had signed an accord with his party earlier there would have been no need for another general election and the march of the far-right group, Vox, would have been halted. Sanchez signed an accord with Podemos yesterday to form a coalition government.

As Iglesias rightly said he could have signed this agreement months ago. Vox was the real winner in Sunday´s general election doubling the number of seats in parliament and putting them firmly in the political mainstream. Both the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) and Podemos lost votes and even if their coalition goes ahead they will still not have a majority. They will still need the support of some of the smaller parties to get legislation through parliament. So why did Sanchez wait and call a new election rather than pact with Podemos?

It is unclear but it appears that the far left party had put a heavy price on their support. Spanish politics has changed dramatically over the last few months; a far-left party will be in government and a far right party will be holding the governmet to account. The signing of the coalition pact doesn´t mean the end of the uncertainty it could be just the start. One thing for sure, Spain is no longer a two party state and the new arrivals could be described as radical on the left and the right.