Finally, a New Government

The results are in and the numbers were apparently even less useful than the previous elections last April. However, on Tuesday, Pedro Sánchez and Pablo Iglesias, leaders of the PSOE and Unidas Podemos respectively, made a joint statement, having agreed a deal to govern in a coalition. The two parties are still short on a parliamentary majority, but they will gather enough support, either in a first or second vote, to form a progressive government for late December.

In the election results, the PSOE lost a couple and Podemos lost a few, making the left a little weaker. The PP and the Vox gained heavily, making the right a little stronger, however, Ciudadanos (the weak third leg of the so-called 'trifachita') collapsed, falling from 57 seats to just 10 (even the regional ERC did better, with 13). The party-leader Albert Rivera duly quit his post (and his seat) on Monday after calling for an immediate party congress. His Nº2 Inés Arrimadas will likely take over.

Maybe the remains of Ciudadanos will see their earlier (cataclysmic) error and this time support the PSOE/Podemos partnership.No, apparently not.

The forthcoming progressive government will suppose a vice-presidency for Podemos and a number of new programs. The 'preacuerdo', in ten points, is here. 

An issue that has clouded the water is the voting system itself. How can one party get thirteen seats with 870,000 votes (ERC) while Ciudadanos with 1,637,000 votes got only ten seats? The answer is the d’Hondt Method, a mathematical calculation used to assign winning seats.

In short, it’s a messy solution. The case for the PSOE (and the country) was this: they couldn’t do it then, but they can do it now, when things are even more complicated, which means, of course, that they should have done it then. All of which reads as: poor political management this summer from Pedro Sánchez. 
Now he has a powerful new enemy in Vox to deal with in the public arena.

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To see how your municipality voted (or, if it worries you, how many of your neighbours voted for Vox) go here.