Page 8 - aruba-today-20190429

A8 WORLD NEWS
Monday 29 april 2019

Socialists win Spain election, far-right emerges as player

By ARITZ PARRA going to begin a recon-
JOSEPH WILSON quering of Spain and that's
MADRID (AP) — Spain's what we have done," Vox
governing center-left So- leader Santiago Abascal
cialists won the country's said, in reference to the
election Sunday but must 15th-century campaign by
seek backing from smaller the Spanish Catholic Kings
parties to maintain power, to end Muslim rule in the
while a far-right party rode Iberian Peninsula.
an unprecedented surge Vox, which was formed five
of support to enter the years ago, has promised to
lower house of parliament defend Spain from its "ene-
for the first time in four de- mies," citing feminists, liberal
cades. elites and Muslims among
With 99% of ballots count- others. Its emergence on
ed, the Socialists led by the national stage gives
Prime Minister Pedro Sán- Spain five political parties,
chez won 29% of the vote, furthering political frag-
capturing 123 seats in the mentation in a country that
350-seat Congress of Dep- was alternately ruled for
uties. The new far-right Vox decades by the Socialists
party made its national and the Popular Party.
breakthrough by captur- To stay in office, the Social-
ing 10% of the vote, which Spain's Prime Minister and Socialist Party leader Pedro Sanchez gestures to supporters outside the ists and Sánchez must form
would give it 24 seats. party headquarters following the general election in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, April 28, 2019. a governing alliance with
Sánchez announced that Associated Press smaller parties, including
he would soon open talks the far-left United We Can
with other political parties, whose support he may seats, losing more than half country struggled with a led by Pablo Iglesias.
telling crowds gathered at need that any post-elec- of its representation since recession, austerity cuts, Iglesias said after the
the gates of his party head- toral pact must respect the the last election in 2016. corruption scandals, di- vote the he "would have
quarters in central Madrid country's 1978 constitution, The conservatives also lost visive demands for inde- liked a better result, but
that "the future has won which bans regions from votes to the center-right pendence from the restive it's been enough to stop
and the past has lost." seceding. Citizens party, which will in- Catalonia region and a rise the right-wing and build a
He hinted at a preference Vox's success came at the crease its number of seats in far-right nationalism not left-wing coalition govern-
for a left-wing governing al- expense of the once-dom- from 32 to 57. seen since Spain's dictator- ment," adding that he's
liance but also sent a warn- inant conservative Popu- Voters in Spain had be- ship ended in the 1970s. already offered support to
ing to Catalan separatists lar Party, which fell to 66 come disillusioned as the "We told you that we were Sánchez.q
Danish lawmaker: euroskeptic EU alliance can have influence

By JAN M. OLSEN this new group formation icy for the first time ever,"
Associated Press is that you choose two Espersen said.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark things that matter. The first Elections to the European
(AP) — A senior member of is to stop mass immigration, Parliament are held May
a Danish anti-immigration and the second is to rec- 23-26 throughout the bloc.
party said Friday he hopes reate what (former French Earlier this month, Italy's
a new right-wing alliance President Gen. Charles) De hard-line interior minister,
"can have real influence Gaulle called a 'Europe of Matteo Salvini, leader of
on European policy for the nations,'" Espersen said. the anti-migrant League
first time ever" after next De Gaulle, who was party, presented an alli-
month's European Parlia- France's president for a ance with populist parties
ment elections. decade from 1959, talked from Denmark, Germany
Soeren Espersen, deputy about having a Europe of and Finland. Their goal is
leader of the euroskeptic sovereign states instead of to radically transform Eu-
Danish People's Party, was a supranational EU struc- ropean Union policies on
Head of France’s National Rally Marine Le Pen, centre, walks referring to the creation of ture. issues like migration, secu-
with Denmark politician Soeren Espersen, right who is chairman an alliance of populist par- "This group, if successful, will rity, family and the environ-
of the Foreign Policy Committee, during a visit to Christiansborg ties from Italy, Denmark, become a strong group, ment. The parties currently
Palace in Copenhagen, Denmark, Friday April 26, 2019. Germany and Finland. where we can have real sit in other parliamentary
Associated Press "What is so exciting about influence on European pol- groups.q