01:00Spain: PM Rajoy hails election results during press conference in Madrid
Popular Party (PP) leader Mariano Rajoy addressed the results of the Spanish elections during a press conference in Madrid, Monday, after his party managed to gain the most votes despite being involved in a large-scale corruption scandal.
Rajoy claimed that Spain needs "a government with large parliamentary support, a government able to generate confidence in and out of Spain, in short, a stable government" able to "carry out the reforms that are still needed in Spain," as the EU is likely to push for more budget cuts.
The incumbent PP won 32 percent of the votes and 137 seats in the 350-seat parliament. The PSOE (Socialist Party) came in second with around 23 percent and 85 seats, closely followed by the leftist Unidos Podemos with around 22 percent and 71 seats.
The preliminary numbers mean the PP party didn't get enough seats to form a government on its own, not reaching the required majority of 176 lawmakers. The leader of Spain's Ciudadanos party Albert Rivera said he is ready to initiate talks with the PP party and discuss the question of forming a coalition government, even though this would still leave them seven seats short of securing a majority. However, regional parties could join the coalition to make up six more seats.
Spain's previous election in December 2015 resulted in stalemate, with no agreement being reached on a coalition between the various political parties, none of whom maintains an overall parliamentary majority.
01:00Popular Party (PP) leader Mariano Rajoy addressed the results of the Spanish elections during a press conference in Madrid, Monday, after his party managed to gain the most votes despite being involved in a large-scale corruption scandal.
Rajoy claimed that Spain needs "a government with large parliamentary support, a government able to generate confidence in and out of Spain, in short, a stable government" able to "carry out the reforms that are still needed in Spain," as the EU is likely to push for more budget cuts.
The incumbent PP won 32 percent of the votes and 137 seats in the 350-seat parliament. The PSOE (Socialist Party) came in second with around 23 percent and 85 seats, closely followed by the leftist Unidos Podemos with around 22 percent and 71 seats.
The preliminary numbers mean the PP party didn't get enough seats to form a government on its own, not reaching the required majority of 176 lawmakers. The leader of Spain's Ciudadanos party Albert Rivera said he is ready to initiate talks with the PP party and discuss the question of forming a coalition government, even though this would still leave them seven seats short of securing a majority. However, regional parties could join the coalition to make up six more seats.
Spain's previous election in December 2015 resulted in stalemate, with no agreement being reached on a coalition between the various political parties, none of whom maintains an overall parliamentary majority.