Spain. Sánchez recalls that the PP governs regions where it was not voted the most

SÁnchez responded this Sunday to a letter from the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who won the Spanish legislative elections on July 23 without an absolute majority and who has defended that the party with the most votes should govern.

Feijóo, who in the letter to Sánchez asked him for a meeting this week to avoid “ungovernability” in Spain, argues that the second most voted party should always enable a minority executive of the winner of the elections, through the abstention of its deputies, and argues that this is the way to avoid coalitions with extremist forces, both on the right and on the left.

The PP leader defended this position during the legislative election campaign of July 23, which coincided with the formation of regional and municipal governments in Spain led by the Popular Party in coalition with VOX (extreme right), although the popular ones were not the most voted in these autonomies and municipalities, as Pedro Sánchez reminded him today.

In the answer he sent today to Feijóo, the leader of the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) recalled precisely that the PP applied “historically” and “in a systematic way in all latitudes of Spain” the democratic principle of being able to govern even though it is not the most voted.

Sánchez wrote to Feijóo that he accepts the meeting between the two, but only after the formal constitution of the new parliament, on August 17, and the hearings of the parties by King Felipe VI, but reminded him that, according to the Constitution of Spain , the rules for forming the Government “adjust to the principles of parliamentary democracy”.

The PSOE leader insisted that a “basic principle of parliamentary democracy” was at stake, which has allowed the PP itself “to reach the presidency of autonomous governments and municipalities despite not being the most voted force”.

Sánchez argued that, in addition, the recent pacts between PP and VOX to form regional and local governments “are adopting measures that imply disturbing setbacks in matters as important as social dialogue, equality, diversity or the environment”.

In a reference to the results of the elections and the main ‘slogan’ of the PP campaign, “revoking sanchismo”, Pedro Sánchez wrote that “it is evidence that the revocation proposal did not obtain the support it claimed to carry out its purpose”.

Both Sánchez and Feijóo addressed each other by “tu” in the letters they exchanged today.

Feijóo had asked Sánchez for a meeting this week to discuss and avoid a post-electoral “blockade” and “ungovernability” in the country, after last Sunday’s elections, which did not result in an absolute majority on the right (PP/VOX) or on the left (PSOE/Add).

The PSOE was the second most voted party, but unlike the PP it still has a chance of getting parliamentary support for a new investiture of Pedro Sánchez as prime minister.

The socialist party has more allies in parliament than the PP and, if it reaches an agreement with all of them, Sánchez has the possibility of returning to being prime minister, at the head of a PSOE/Somar coalition government.

At stake are five regionalist, nationalist and separatist parties that have already made the current government viable, but to which another one joins this year, Together for Catalonia (JxCat), of the former president of the Regional Government Carles Puigdemont.

JxCat, an independentist, voted against Sánchez’s investiture in the last legislature, but this time the socialist leader will have to count on the support of the seven deputies of the Catalan party to return to lead the Government.

None of the parties with which PSOE and Somar have to negotiate have rejected, for the time being, the possibility of talks and support for a new left-wing government.

Socialist leaders said, over the last week, that the PSOE will conduct negotiations discreetly and only after a few weeks of vacation, remitting any news to after the formal constitution of parliament, on August 17th.

Also Read: Electoral board rejects PSOE petition to review null votes in Spain