MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Sunday’s parliamentary elections in northwestern Galicia left his Socialist Party (PSOE) weakened after winning just nine seats in the 75-member parliament. showed.
According to official results, the conservative People’s Party (PP) maintained an outright majority with 40 seats, while the PSOE’s far-left coalition party, the Smar Party, did not win a single seat. The National Party Galicia Bloc (BNG) gained 6 seats to 25 seats.
In his first major election since securing re-election as prime minister, Sanchez hopes better-than-expected economic performance will offset opposition to political concessions he has made in exchange for support from Catalan separatists. Was.
“The results are clear: this is the worst result ever for the Socialist Party. It was a bad night for the Socialist Party,” political consultancy Nitid said in a report.
The victory boosted PP national leader Alberto Nuñez Feijú, who had questioned his leadership after failing to oust Sánchez in last year’s national elections.
The PP has ruled Galicia for all but four of the past 35 years, and Feijoo was the region’s president until he resigned as party leader.
After failing to form a coalition government with the far-right party Vox, Mr. Feijoo has consistently attacked Mr. Sánchez over his plan to grant amnesty in exchange for support for Catalan separatists.
(Reporting by Inti Landauro and Emma Pinedo; Editing by Charlie Devereux and Ros Russell)