Rajoy has won, but now he must learn to compromise
The reaction from Pedro Sánchez and Albert Rivera suggests that the Spanish PM will have to try harder in order to garner their support
There are many reasons why Mariano Rajoy should be pleased with the results of the June 26 polls in Spain. His Partido Popular is the only main Spanish party to have gained votes (+ 670,000) and seats in parliament (+ 14) and it went on to win in every region, except Catalonia and the Basque Country, which remain hostile ground for Spain’s conservatives.
With these credentials, yesterday Rajoy asserted his right to govern and asked the PSOE and Ciudadanos to be “responsible” so that he may be voted in and form a government. However, the reaction from Pedro Sánchez and Albert Rivera —both of whom have vetoed Rajoy— suggests that the Spanish PM will have to try harder in order to garner their support and it won’t prove nearly as easy as he might have expected.
So Rajoy must learn to compromise. After the euphoria following their victory, everyone in the PP must come down to earth and realise that they must talk, negotiate and pay a price, if they wish to remain at the helm of Spain. This is the true paradigm shift in Spanish politics, a country where there is no tradition of coalition or political compromise, let alone of a grand coalition. If one thing is clear after June 26, it is that bipartisan politics has held its ground but the emerging parties are here to stay. The time of outright (or near-absolute) majorities has passed and it won’t be coming back any time soon. As a matter of fact, a good deal of Spain’s regions and main cities are ruled by coalition governments or multi-party agreements of some sort.
Therefore, Rajoy must begin to think what he might offer his potential partners in exchange for their support. He must take the initiative and make a move to prove that his willingness to compromise on policy and a shared platform is genuine.
If Rajoy makes no gestures, PSOE leader Pedro Sánchez should have the courage to propose an alternative coalition with Podemos —and Catalonia’s separatist MPs— which agrees to holding an independence vote. Unfortunately, experience has shown that this is a very remote possibility and the PSOE will side with the PP and Ciudadanos on this matter. Nevertheless, it would be highly irresponsible to reach an agreement on a government coalition whilst ignoring Catalonia and the demands of its people. A mere makeover of Spain’s regional finance system would fail to meet the Catalan challenge.
