Sánchez calls snap general election after bad result for his PSOE party last Sunday
With the surprise news, the prime minister hopes to stop any further increase in support for parties on the right
SUR
Madrid.
Viernes, 2 de junio 2023, 11:17
Not even his closest confidants all knew what Pedro Sánchez was going to announce as he stood on the steps of his La Moncloa prime minister's office in Madrid on Monday morning. With news of his PSOE party's significant defeat across Spain in the previous day's local and regional elections still sinking in, he had decided to call an election for the national parliament on 23 July.
The Cabinet had not been officially consulted and the PM had not been expected to end his coalition government before he was constitutionally required to by December this year.
With the surprise news, Sánchez hoped to stop any further increase in support for parties on the right - the conservative Partido Popular (PP) and far-right Vox.
In addition, commentators said, his swift move was, in part, to distract attention from himself within his own party, as many of the biggest names in the PSOE had just lost power in the regions and municipalities. Sánchez had led a campaign seen as focusing on himself, which was viewed as having backfired.
The prime minister stressed that he believed that the best thing was for the Spanish people to "have their turn to speak" in an early national election, "in view of the results of the elections held yesterday" which saw many of his party's "magnificent mayors and leaders" being removed despite having an "impeccable track record".
Immediately all political parties' general election teams started to get to work preparing for 23 July. Ciudadanos, nursing a virtual wipeout in Sunday's vote, soon declared it would not be presenting candidates in July.
It is the first time that a general election is being held in Spain during a summer holiday period and commentators were divided as to whether this would favour the left or right.
One thing was clear however; there has been a surge in people registering for a postal vote already this week, as some voters expect to be away from home at that time. The election campaign will officially begin on 7 July.
