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Local, regional elections to take place in Spain on Sunday

Xinhua, May 21, 2015 Adjust font size:

Sunday sees the elections for both regional and local assemblies in most parts of Spain in a vote which will go a long way towards showing what the political future of the country could be.

These elections take place in the context of the rise of the so-called populist parties: left-wing collation Podemos and the center-right Citizens and follow in the wake of the recent elections for the Andalusian regional parliament.

The divided vote in Andalusia at the end of March has led to a political stalemate with the leader of the Socialist Party, Susana Diaz, unable to form a coalition which would allow her to form a stable government.

Sunday is expected to produce a similar outcome in many town halls and regions of Spain. Polls show Podemos and Citizens can expect to do well in the elections provoking a four-way split with the traditional Popular Party (PP) and the Socialists.

Corruption scandals have seen the ruling PP suffer badly in recent opinion polls with their support dropping from the 44 percent of their 2011 general election triumph to around 25 percent.

It now looks that although the PP may well be the biggest party in many regions and local authorities, they will lose their majorities in key cities such as Madrid, Valencia and Zaragoza and could be forced to form a coalition with Citizens, analysts say.

Madrid is especially interesting as veteran PP member Esperanza Aguirre is running for mayor. Seen as being on the far-right wing of the party, Aguirre is hugely popular with PP loyalists, but deeply unpopular with most other voters.

A recent surge in support for the Podemos supported coalition "Ahora Madrid" (Now Madrid) sees her running neck-and-neck with its candidate Manuela Carmena.

The PP is also struggling to keep control of Valencia.

The elections will be a test for the credibility of new Socialist (PSOE) leader Pedro Sanchez.

With no parties expected to win majorities, the resulting pacts could offer some foresight into what could happen after November's general election or even persuade Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to bring the vote forward to the summer or early autumn. Endit