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Spanish PM confirms general election date

Xinhua, October 2, 2015 Adjust font size:

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Thursday that the next general election in Spain would be held on Dec. 20.

Rajoy revealed the date in an interview with TV station Antenna 3.

The news confirmed what Rajoy had hinted at on Sept. 3 when he said the election would be "around Dec. 20," explaining that his government's need to pass the 2016 budget beforehand was the reason for choosing the date.

Opposition forces highlighted that Dec. 20 is a bad date to call a general election given that it is the last Sunday before Christmas when many people will be busy with their Christmas shopping which could prevent them from voting.

Meanwhile, many Spaniards will have taken the full week as a holiday and will not be able to vote as they will have travelled to places where they are not registered to vote.

Although it is possible to vote by post, the paperwork to do that has to be carried out several days beforehand and that will also mean to many people not voting.

Recent opinion polls showed Rajoy's ruling Popular Party just about level with the Socialist Party in opinion polls, but with less than 30 percent of the vote and everything points to the next government depending on how these two parties are able to form a coalition with the left wind Podemos and the center-right Citizens. Endit