Spain’s King Dissolves Parliament, New Election Set for June 26
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Spanish King Felipe VI dissolved Spain’s parliament Tuesday, after four months of failed efforts by its leading parties to form a government, and called a new election for June 26.
The royal decree had been expected since last week, when party leaders told the king in separate meetings that none was capable of gathering majority support in the 350-member parliament to become prime minister. The decree was signed hours after the legal deadline for forming a government.
Spain has been at an impasse since two upstart parties—the far-left Podemos party and business-friendly Ciudadanos—finished strongly enough in the Dec. 20 election to break decades of dominance by the conservative Popular Party and the Socialists, creating a deadlocked parliament.
It turned out to be the shortest lived parliament since Spain established a democracy following the death in 1975 of the dictator Francisco Franco, and the first to be dissolved for failing to elect a prime minister.
The decree signed by King Felipe set June 10 for the formal start of the election campaign. It said the new parliament will be convened on July 19, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Mariano Rajoy, the Popular Party leader elected prime minister in 2011, will remain acting prime minister until the new parliament chooses a government. Recent polls indicate that his party will again finish first in the election but fall short of a majority in parliament, setting up a new round of coalition bargaining among Spain’s fragmented political leadership.
“Let’s hope we have all learned our lesson and that the next parliament reaches an agreement as soon as possible” on forming a government, Patxi Lopez, speaker of the outgoing parliament, told a news conference after the king had signed the decree in his presence.
