Roundup: First semester of Spanish PM's gov't recognized as successful by EU

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, whose term started on Nov. 4, 2016, after being acting prime minister for ten months, has faced a semester of difficulties at the helm of a minority government, but the European Union (EU) has recognized the positive success of the country.

In the wake of the economic crisis that hit Spain in 2008, the political arena has been impacted by societal discontent. This has caused an emergence and strengthening of new political parties and, with this, a greater distribution of parties in seats in the Spanish Congress of Deputies, most notably after the last general election.

INTERNAL CRISIS OF THE OPPOSITION

Rajoy won the general election in December 2015 and later in June 2016. There were two consecutive general elections in one semester as the political situation was blocked due to a hung parliament.

In the first six months of Rajoy's governance, there were internal crises in two opposition parties -- Podemos and the Socialist Party (PSOE) -- and, more recently, a crisis in the ruling People's Party (PP) itself due to a corruption scandal.

The scandal has led to the resignation of the historical leader of the PP in Madrid, Esperanza Aguirre.

The crisis of the PSOE began before the investiture of Rajoy. Socialists were divided between those who wanted to abstain from an investiture vote in order to facilitate the formation of government and avoid a third general election, and those who wanted to vote against his investiture.

The split resulted in the resignation of Pedro Sanchez, the former leader of the party, and a management committee taking control of the party.

The PSOE will hold a primary election on May 21 for the party's general secretary. Seven candidates will compete for the leadership -- among them, Patxi Lopez, Pedro Sanchez and Susana Diaz -- aiming at creating a united PSOE able to win against the PP in a future general election.

Podemos, a young party of three years, has also suffered an internal crisis with two of its members, Pablo Iglesias and Inigo Errejon, defending two different projects for the party. The crisis has resulted in confirmation of Iglesias' leadership.

Experts said the political crises of the opposition parties would lead to a loss of votes if there were to be an election, which makes it difficult for them to be an alternative to the ruling PP.

SUCCESSES CONFIRMED BY THE EU

Rajoy's government is facing problems getting the 2017 general state budget approved, as the government needs the support of other political forces.

This week, the budget is being discussed in the Congress of Deputies and the finance minister hopes to gain the support of four parties so as to be able to negotiate an agreement.

Meanwhile, other opposition parties such as Podemos and PSOE say the budget promotes inequality and undermines the purchasing power of pensioners and public employees.

However, the EU has confirmed that the Spanish government has had important success in ending the economic and financial crisis and has met the 2016 deficit target, which stood at 4.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), 0.1 percent lower than the figure agreed with Brussels.

The Spanish economy is recovering, albeit little by little. The government expects it to grow by an average of 2.5 percent by 2020 while unemployment is predicted to fall to 11.9 percent.

The economy grew by 0.8 percent in the first quarter this year compared to the fourth quarter of last year, while it grew by 3.0 percent year-on-year, according to preliminary data published by the Bank of Spain.

The institution warned that a slowdown in growth was expected in the coming years as low oil prices and interest rates on debt would not have as much effect as they have so far.

On the other hand, unemployment rose by more than 17,000 people in the first three months of the year compared to the last quarter of 2016.

In annual terms, the situation improved and unemployment fell by 536,000 people. Despite this, many analysts pointed out that wage inequality and job precariousness have increased since the crisis and that although jobs are created, they are not high quality jobs in a large number of cases.

There are a total of 4.2 million unemployed people in the country, according to Spain's Statistical Office (INE).

High unemployment is one of the main economic challenges Rajoy faces, whereas among the political challenges, Rajoy has to address the situation in Catalonia, a region in northeastern Spain which continues to ask for a referendum on independence that the central government considers illegal as it breaches the constitution.

On the plus side, the government of Rajoy has also witnessed the announcement of the disarmament of the Basque separatist group ETA, seen by many analysts as a further step towards the end of the armed conflict.

The government continues to require the unconditional dissolution of the group.

In addition, Rajoy has resumed his foreign agenda after several months in office. He has been to several EU summits at a time of special importance due to Brexit and also focused on Latin America, with special attention to Argentina, Brazil, Cuba and Uruguay. Endit