As Spain gears up for general elections on April 28th, Socialist Party Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is confident that he has come out best from the two televised debates. He has also stated that he would prefer to govern alongside the leftist Podemos, rather than the centrist Ciudadanos.
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Pedro Sanchez’s Socialist Party are happy about their leaders performance in live TV debates the past week. Sanchez’s team said on Wednesday; "Yesterday, we took those moderates who were undecided between PSOE and Ciudadanos”, due to the fact that the conservative PP came across as “in body and soul as of the right.” During the debate Sanchez jibed; “The lies fly between Casado (Conservative PP) and Rivera (Centrist Ciudadanos) and they’re indistinguishable...every time they seem more and more like those of the ultra-right". Polls support Sanchez’ optimism, most place his ruling PSOE as ahead of the pack.
During the live RTVE debate, the conservative PP and Centrist Ciudadanos took a hardline stating that they would refuse to govern with any regional autonomists.
Polls show that no single party is likely to win a parliamentary majority, therefore, a dominant theme during the campaign is who would govern with whom. Pedro Sanchez rejected a possible coalition with the Centrists saying; “It is not in my plans to make a pact with a party that has put a cordon-sanitaire around the PSOE”, in reference to Ciudadanos aggressive rhetoric against his party. This rejection opens the door to a coalition of the left with the more radical Podemos, led by Pablo Iglesias. On this, Sanchez explained in an interview with El Diario; “Whatever happens, after the 28th of April, logically I would like to be able to come to an understanding with Unidas Podemos.”
PSOE and Podemos have previously come to agreements, such as a deal to raise the minimum wage. However, differences remain, such as over foreign policy. Pedro Sanchez has taken a more aggressive attitude towards Venezuela than his PSOE predecessor José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero who was vocal in his support of the President Maduro’s call for peace negotiations. Meanwhile Sanchez has expressed his support for self-declared lawmaker Juan Guaido.
The elections have also been overshadowed by the meteoric rise of the far-right nationalist Vox party. The party believes that gender violence laws should be abolished, and that ‘fundamentalist’ mosques be closed down. In October 2018, they were polling at just 1.3 percent, but in these elections they are expected to take over a tenth of the vote.