Spain still rejects return to two-party system: poll

Spaniards do not want a return to the two-party system of the Peoples' Party and the Spanish Socialists (PSOE), an opinion poll showed on Sunday.

The opinion poll was complied by the Metroscope consultancy and published in the El Pais newspaper on Sunday.

The poll is the first to be published since PSOE leader Pedro Sanchez failed in his bid to be named as prime minister, losing two investiture votes on March 3 and March 5.

It shows that Sanchez has actually gained support since the December 20 general election, with 23.1 percent of those asked saying they would vote for his party as opposed to the 22 percent who actually did so in the election.

However, it is Albert Rivera, Sanchez's partner in the unsuccessful coalition pact who is the big winner in the poll with support for his center-right Citizens (C's) party climbing from 13.9 percent in the election to 19.5 percent now.

Meanwhile according to Metroscope, there are two losers: the left wing Podemos, who failed to support Sanchez's bid and have seen support drop from 20.7 to 16.8 percent and the right wing PP, whose support has fallen from 28.7 percent to 26 percent.

This has come in the wake of recent revelations of corruption scandals surrounding the party in Valencia and Madrid, which have further damaged the image of acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

Rajoy is by far the least popular party leader with an approval rating of minus 44 and with only 42 percent of PP voters saying he should be their candidate at the next election.

Meanwhile Rivera has the highest rating with an approval of plus 32 and with 96 percent of C's voters hoping he continues as party leader.

Spain's parties have less than two months until May 3 to form a government, otherwise Congress will be dissolved and new elections called for June 26. Endit