Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez Calls Snap Election

MADRID, Oct 5 (Bernama-dpa) -- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has called a snap election for Nov 29, after his minority government suffered a heavy defeat in a parliamentary vote on two decrees aimed at tackling the country's housing crisis, reported German Press Agency (dpa).

Sánchez made the announcement in a live television address on Monday morning after days of escalating protests.

The two measures were rejected on Friday not only by the main opposition People's Party (PP) and the right-wing populist Vox, but also by the government's former partner, the conservative Catalan separatist party Junts per Catalunya (Together for Catalonia). Its seven votes against the measures proved decisive in the defeat of the housing decrees.

Junts had helped Sánchez secure a majority after the last election in July 2023, but turned against the government nearly a year ago and declared itself part of the opposition. 

Since then, the Sánchez minority government has had no automatic majority in parliament and has struggled to pass its legislative agenda. It has been largely paralysed.

Calling a snap election represents a major risk for Sánchez. According to most polls, the PP and Vox together would win a solid majority of more than 200 of the 350 seats in parliament.

Corruption cases linked to the government and the migration crisis in Spain's North African exclave of Ceuta have weakened poll ratings for Sánchez's Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), which has been in power since 2018, and for its coalition partner, the left-wing Sumar (Unite) alliance.

-- BERNAMA-dpa