The parliamentary elections in Spain have produced no natural coalition and, according to Kommersant, in a move to keep Podemos out of power, the other major parties may form a broad German-style coalition. Brussels, El Pais reports, has taken note of the outcome of Spain’s general election by expressing extreme caution and calling on the new government to be “stable” despite “all the difficulties.” The European Commission on Monday indeed emphasised the need for Spain to form a stable government as euro area disciplinary proceedings stand ready to be activated in case a Socialist-led coalition challenges austerity policymaking, Cinco Dias notes.
In the case of Spain, Brussels has as many as three different mechanisms in stock to pressure Madrid, and the EC has already proved in Portugal and Greece that it will make use of these legal instruments with an unashamed lack of neutrality if facing rebellion from any euro area government, Cinco Dias further comments, while The Daily Telegraph claims that the electoral earthquake over the weekend in one of the eurozone’s ‘Big Four’ has echoes of the shock upsets in Greece and Portugal this year, a reminder that the political damage from years of economic depression and mass unemployment can strike long after recovery has begun.
It might well be that the EC will lose another dear ally after Greece and Portugal, Salzburger Nachrichten further comments. The new government – regardless of whether it is right-leaning or left-leaning – “will need to come to Brussels with a credible programme, putting forward the reforms and necessary measures to achieve the nominal deficit goals,” said a dozen sources in European institutions quoted by El Pais. President
Jean-Claude Juncker, ABC reports, has already said he expects Spain’s new government to commit to abiding by euro area rules, and went even further by claiming that the People’s Party was the most voted political force, with an EC Spokesperson being quoted by Focus News as congratulating PM Rajoy “for having won the greatest number of seats in parliament.” Spain, The Daily Telegraph reports, risks months of political paralysis and a corrosive showdown with Germany over fiscal austerity after insurgent movements smashed the traditional two-party system.
In FAZ, Leo Wieland indeed focuses on the risk of an unstable parliament without a clear majority, critically arguing that Spanish voters have caused an upheaval without consideration for the consequences. In an opposite tone, The Guardian welcomes, in an editorial, the rise of Podemos and Ciudadanos in Spain, claiming that the country’s changing political landscape is a reflection of the deeper general, economic, historical and philosophical changes in Spanish society.
Writing for the G2 supplement in The Guardian, Paul Mason remarks that the Spanish election result is evidence of a greater European trend towards extreme left and right parties, and a departure from the political centre. Discussing the outcome of the Spanish general election, an INYT news analysis article suggests that the outcome of the Spanish elections signals “another blow to the austerity policies that have dominated European politics since the euro crisis began seven years ago.”
In an article called “A historic blow to Spain’s two-party establishment,” an FT leader calls for an acknowledgement that electorate has ruled that no-one party has the right to impose its will on the people, and urges caution over political divisions. Commenting on the result of Spain’s elections, Italian PM Matteo Renzi has warned that austerity and rigour policies are not effective, do not help ordinary people, and hit those who carry them on, Rai Due reports.
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