Sunday, July 23, 2024, Spaniards head to the polls in a highly anticipated Spain’s snap general election amid severe heat waves sweeping across the country.
Spain’s general election coincided with extreme conditions of heat waves and high temperature but is in full swing with the polling opening at 07:00 GMT and is expected to be close at 18:00 GMT. The results are expected to be announced before midnight, with the winning political party set to be determined soon after.
King Felipe VI will meet the party leaders and he will then put forward a candidate for prime minister to lead the country. Moreover, The winning party has 3 weeks to be formally constituted.
Spaniards (with around 37.4 millions registered voters, and at least 2.5 millions registered to cast ballots by post) queuing up at polling stations across the country, including Madrid and other major cities to cast their votes.
This will determine whether the Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez will continue to lead the country or whether the right-wing party, led by Alberto Núñez Feijóo, will take power.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez too arrived at a polling station in Madrid to cast his vote along with his wife Maria Begona Gomez Fernandez on sunday. All the four contenders also casted their vote with Ms. Diaz from Sumar Party to be the last one.
Image Source : Al Jazeera
SNAP Election
Socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, surprised many, when two months ago in May, he called for an early general election (Snap election) scheduled for 23 July, 2024 (Sunday). Earlier the elections were set to be held in the month of November.
This election is seen as a gamble played by the Prime minister after his party Spanish Socialist Workers party (PSOE) performed poorly in the regional and municipal elections held in May.
This move by Sánchez to call for a fresh election was done in the hope of mobilising leftwing voters and avoiding months of political wear and tear his coalition minority government was going through. This snap election has enabled the voters to choose either wing in this stark competition between the right-wing and left-wing.
The Main opposition : Albert Nunez Feijóo
The contenders of the general elections are Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez (Partido Socialista Obrero Espanol (PSOE) party) , Alberto Nunez Feijoo (Leader of the right-wing party, Partido Popular (PP)), Santiago Abascal (Vox party, far-right wing) and Yolanda Diaz (Popular Labor Minister and the only woman among the contending leaders, from Sumar).
The main contest is said to be between the left wing led by Prime Minister Sánchez from the Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) and the right wing led by the main opposition Feijóo from People’s party.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is taking a significant risk by calling for this snap general election , the outcome of the election is expected to be a close race between two ideological sides.
Sánchez is often criticised by his opponents upon his series of concessions to Spain’s separatist parties, and reforming of sedition laws under which they were charged. Meanwhile, Feijóo is criticised for his coalition with Vox as The vox party stands in the opposition to the E.U., immigration, and LGBTQ and women’s rights.
Spain, the latest EU country to experience the political right takeover ?
The right-wing party, led by Alberto Núñez Feijóo, could be the first to take power since the military dictatorship of Francisco Franco ended in the 1970s and Spain became Democratic again, Opinion Polls suggest.
The opposition conservative People’s party (PP) is predicted to win the general election 2024. However it is seen that the party is likely to fall behind from attaining an absolute majority in the parliament.
Image Source : The New York Times
To have an absolute majority, the party is expected to then form an alliance with the vox part. Feijóo is showing willingness to form a coalition with the far-right Vox party, but hasn’t announced it officially.
As the election results will be announced soon, it will decide what ideology would govern the future of Spain. Whether the country will continue on its current path or will take a new direction to see a far right party enter government for the first time in nearly half a century.
