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Poll: Spanish Socialists lose support after Sanchez forced out

Xinhua, November 8, 2016 Adjust font size:

A new poll published Monday by Spain's Center for Sociological Research (CIS) shows that the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) has seen its support fall dramatically since Pedro Sanchez was forced to step down as party leader on Oct. 1.

The poll also shows that Mariano Rajoy's right-wing People's Party (PP) would have won a theoretically general election had Spain been forced into a third vote in 12 months, something that was avoided after the PSOE abstained in the investiture vote which saw Rajoy return as prime minister on Oct. 29.

The CIS poll was carried out in the days following Sanchez's resignation as secretary general of the PSOE after what was essentially an internal coup led by those in favor of allowing the PP to form a minority government. It gives the PP 34.5 percent of the vote, an improvement on the 33.03 percent they won in the June general election.

This comes despite the start of the Gurtel corruption trial in which Rajoy's party is deeply implicated and the Caja Madrid "black" credit cards trial in which former PP deputy leader Rodrigo Rato is among the defendants.

Left-wing alliance Unidos Podemos overtakes the PSOE and stands at 21.8 percent of the vote, only slightly up on the 21.1 percent it polled in June, while the PSOE has seen support collapse from 22.6 percent to just 17 percent as the party remains divided and without a leader.

The question the PSOE has to answer is whether this drop in support is because Sanchez was forced out or whether it would have happened anyway? Poor results in the regional elections in Galicia and the Basque Region imply that it might be the case.

It is certain, however, that the poll strengthens the PP's hand when it comes to negotiating the pacts with the PSOE that will be needed in order for Rajoy's government to pass new legislation. Endi