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Roundup: Spanish press cautiously hails general election results

Xinhua, June 27, 2016 Adjust font size:

Spaniards woke up on Monday to the fact that Mariano Rajoy's People's Party (PP) was proclaimed as clear winner of the Spanish general elections.

The PP won just over 33 percent of the vote cast and 137 seats in the Spanish Congress, 14 more that in the December general election. The Socialist party won 85 seats, five less than six months ago, but was able to hold off the challenge of Unidos Podmos, who many had expected to become the second political force in Spain.

The party led by Pablo Iglesias won 71 seats, the same as in December last year. They went into Sunday's vote with an electoral pact alongside traditional left wing party United Left.

The main losers on the night were Albert Rivera's Ciudadanos, who saw their representation in Congress fall from 40 to 32 seats. Many who had voted for them six months ago returned to supporting the PP.

The press is unanimous in its conclusions, with the conservative ABC saying "Spain wants Rajoy to govern," and stressing the failure of the left to make inroads after a difficult six months for the acting prime minister's party.

"Podemos and the United Left fail to overtake the PSOE even though (Pedro) Sanchez's party lost 5 seats," wrote the paper.

La Razon, another strong PP supporter, bore the headline: "Rajoy's triumph," adding that the PP leader will "hold talks with other party leaders" in an attempt to form a coalition government.

These sentiments are echoed in the right-leaning El Mundo which said: "Spain gives Rajoy another chance," while highlighting the failure of Unidos Podmos, which lost around a million votes on the night.

The centrist El Pais had a similar headline: "PP strengthens while the leftist block loses ground." The paper stressed that Rajoy still needs support from other parties in order to govern.

A pact with Ciudadanos would still leave the acting prime minister seven seats short of an overall majority in Congress, but agreement with the PSOE would give the PP the chance to govern. The Catalan newspaper "El Periodico" explains the situation in clear terms: "Rajoy wins -- Sanchez decides."

With the second general election in six months concluded, talks will begin and some difficult decisions will have to be taken in order to avoid a third election that nobody wants. Endit