04 December 2015

What would a PP-C’s government look like?

Spanish PM Rajoy would be re-elected in December’s 20 General Election, but he’s not likely to make it back to government alone. A coalition with the most plausible king-maker - the C’s - seems possible. We review the common ground in their policies on economics and towards the EU.

By Paula Martín Camargo, Editor

The electoral campaign just kicked off and the only convincing outcome for observers is that Spain will not have a clear government on 21st December. According to many political experts and Foundation Robert Schuman, the two weeks left before voting day will be more decisive than usual: this might be due to the high volatility of the electorate (around 40% have not  decided their vote yet) and to the political drift of Catalonia.

Latest polls

Governing PP would win the largest share of the vote with 28.6% but will not achieve an absolute majority. Therefore they would need to form a coalition to be able to rule for the next four years, according to the latest opinion poll released this week by the state-funded Centre for Sociological Research (CIS). The outcome of the survey confirms emerging C’s as the key to the re-election (with 19% of the votes). Its leader Albert Rivera would be  the most popular politicianin Spain (with a rather poor 4.98 points out of 10 in the popularity polls – none of the leading politicians would pass them and Rajoy is last in the list, with 55% of the population declaring they wouldn’t vote for the PP in any case). The socialist PSOE would be second (20.8%) and the leftist Podemos, although recovering from its collapse in the autumn would remain in fourth position (9.1%).

Source: CIS (Graphic by El País newspaper) 

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A PP-C’s coalition government: what would it look like?

The fast-growing C’s leader - Albert Rivera - has been selected by POLITICO as one of the 28 peopleacross the 28 EU member states that “are shaping, shaking and stirring Europe”: “In all of this meltdown, one party stands out, representing an Insurrection of the Center — an oxymoron, all things considered. Spain’s Ciudadanos — Citizens — is selling itself as the embodiment of measured, centrist rationality.”

POLITICO hints at the possibility of Rivera not engaging with any of the traditional political parties that might give him access to the government, or doing it only in the event of agreeing that PP’s Rajoy or PSOE’s Sánchez would step down and let him be Prime Minister.

We now consider a possible coalition between PP and C’s and outline their policies in economics and towards the European Union. Whilst there are clear divisions on economic policy, EU policy seems sufficiently aligned that they could both support the goal of greater integration set out in the Five Presidents’ Report.

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Full article for consultancy clients here