Spain stuck in political limbo with indecisive election result

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) - Sunday's general elections results in Spain did not pronounce a clear victory for the ruling left or the opposition right parties, with no side managing to gain the parliamentary majority needed to form a government.

The turnout in the elections to determine the 350-seat parliament was 70%. In all, 37.5 million voters were registered.

The right-wing People's Party (PP), won the elections with 136 seats. Alberto Nunez Feijoo, leader of PP, increased the number of seats in his party by 47 compared to the last election in December 2019.

The Socialist Workers Party (PSOE), the major partner of the coalition that has been in power with a minority in the parliament for the last three-and-a-half years, grabbed 122 seats.

The Sumar party -- formed from the alliance of left-wing parties as an alternative to the current junior partner Unidas Podemos -- won 31 deputies.

The far-right Vox party, on the other hand, suffered a great loss compared to the previous election, falling from 52 to 33 seats.

The Republican Left of Catalonia won 7, the Together for Catalonia (JxCAT) 7, EH Bildu 6, the Basque Nationalist Party 5, and the others 3 seats.

The total number of seats taken by PP and Vox in the right block remained at 169, while PSOE and Sumar in the left block took 153. Thus, neither the right-wing nor the left-wing parties could reach the 176 lawmakers required to form the coalition government.

JxCAT, the party of former Catalan President Carles, could be the kingmaker for the incumbent prime minister and leader of PSOE, Pedro Sanchez, to form the left-wing coalition government. However, JxCAT does not support his coalition.

The official election results in Spain will be announced on Aug. 8 and on Aug. 17.​​​​​​​