Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s demand for a snap general election in Spain shatters the coalition he forged with the far-left United We Can party. Drawing a line in the sand with a grassroots movement whose electoral fortunes have plummeted.
Sánchez moved a national election scheduled for December to July 23 after the conservative Popular Party, or PP. The far-right Vox movement improved their vote share in Sunday’s municipal and regional elections.
Since 2019, Sánchez’s Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party, abbreviated PSOE, has led a minority central government alongside United We Can. Although internal disagreements with his coalition allies have increasingly dominated headlines. The leadership of United We Can is also embroiled in a separate feud with Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Daz, who has launched her own political movement, Sumar.
According to Ernesto Pascual, a political scientist and professor at Barcelona‘s UOC University. The prime minister sought to push the hand of the poorly performing, squabbling groups to the left of his own party in order to determine who had the capacity and will to manage the country.
“Pedro Sánchez requires a united bloc to his left.” So what he does is stop United We Can and Sumar from facing each other,” Pascual explained. “Look, these are the election results,” he says. Either you band together or it will be a calamity.”
Although the Socialists’ total vote share stayed fairly stable in local and regional elections. United We Can’s dismal performance across the country leaves the coalition with a dubious mandate to continue.
Need to dismantle the current government
“Pedro Sánchez may interpret the results as a need to dismantle the current government. In the hope that the party will still have some leverage to win the Spain national election in the short term,” said Nagore Calvo Mendizabal, Senior Lecturer in Spanish and European Studies at King’s College London.
Sunday was the lowest point in United We Can’s electoral performance since it received its first votes in a European election in 2014.
The party was created by Pablo Iglesias, a university professor, as a predecessor to the Occupy protest movement in Spain. In response to the austerity politics imposed by the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. United We Can promised policy based on grassroots activism and grew to become a national force.
United We Can have focused on themes such as gender identification and LGBTQ rights since joining the coalition government with the Socialists in 2019. “These are values that the traditional PSOE electorate does not understand,” Pascual explained. “They understand problems like the minimum wage and inflation.”
The party’s aggressive stance has resulted in heated debates with the PP and Vox. Iglesias formally exited politics in 2021, but some believe he is still manipulating the reins. Most notably in talks with Sumar about any electoral cooperation. “Behind is the founding father, who refuses to let go of the reins at all,” Pascual continued.
Since then, the PSOE and United We Can have openly disagreed over Socialist-ordered changes to a contentious sexual consent statute that had created a loophole for rapists to have their sentences lowered.
The arrival of United We Can
While some predict a return to the two-party politics that dominated Spain prior to the arrival of United We Can. Others argue that Spain’s regional parties and extreme rights are still powerful enough to keep any PP or PSOE government in check even in the absence of United We Can.
While the “shock” of the announcement is still felt, Sandra León, a political scientist at Madrid’s Carlos III University, believes it is worth it to avoid “the costs of internal division in the government until December.”
León and Pascual agreed that the overall goal will be to confuse internal and external foes. The handful of Socialists who performed well in regional elections are the very ones who could undermine Sánchez’s influence inside the PSOE. Meanwhile, people will see Vox making decisions with the allegedly moderate PP in real-time in the coming weeks. They may vote for the Socialists to prevent Vox from consolidating power in parliament.
However, the new date comes with a number of challenges. A late July election in a southern European country like Spain is unique, as many people will be on vacation and away from their registered voting address. Political parties will be in the midst of negotiating coalitions sparked by local elections.
The administration will also have to deal with Spain taking over the rotating presidency of the European Union on July 1. Its ongoing talks with the United Kingdom on a post-Brexit solution for the British enclave of Gibraltar.
