Spain in Election Deadlock
Spain’s opposition right-wing Popular Party (PP) won the snap general election yesterday, but failed to secure enough seats in parliament to form a government.
Under Alberto Nunez Feijoo, the PP won 33.1 percent of the vote. The current government, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s Socialist Workers’ Party (psoe), trailed behind with 31.7 percent.
Results:
- Popular Party: 136 seats
- Socialist Workers’ Party: 122 seats
- Vox: 33 seats
- Sumar: 31 seats
- Others: 28 seats
Obstacles to a coalition: Of the 350 seats in parliament, 176 are needed for a majority. If the PP forms a coalition with the far-right Vox party, it will still be seven seats short and would need a third party.
Sanchez said he would attempt to form a minority government. Feijóo argued that Spain has historically been led by the one who gets the most votes, claiming his own election victory as reason for Sanchez not to try for a coalition.
Sanchez’s most viable partner is Yolanda Diaz’s left-wing Sumar. Together, they would have 153 seats and need 23 more.
A hard-line Catalan Independence party currently holds the key to governing. Neither side can gain a majority without gaining this party’s support, though it is unlikely either of them will.
If neither the PP nor psoe can form a coalition, another election will be called, likely in December.
Longing for extremism: Political instability has been a growing trend in Spain the past couple of decades. The country is stuck on a pendulum that violently swings from one extreme government to the next—usually after having a second election.
Spain is divided. We wrote in 2020 when Sanchez came into power:
The people aren’t just voting for one extreme. They are voting for change—major change. This rise of extremism in Spain is a symptom of the political uncertainty spreading throughout Europe.
Spain’s election yesterday shows a broader trend sweeping through Europe: As democracies fail, people crave a strong leader. Bible prophecy says they will get one.
Daniel 8 foretells of the rise of a dominant leader in Germany who will form a single eurostate. Revelation 17 explains that this power bloc will consist of 10 kings. Though it is not yet certain Spain will be one of these 10 nations, its instability reflects the political condition plaguing Europe as a whole, which is fertile ground for a strong leader to emerge.
Request Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry’s booklet A Strong German Leader Is Imminent to learn more.
