MADRID (AP) — Spain’s leading opposition Socialist party Monday said it would vote against acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s candidacy to form a new government, thus killing one of Rajoy’s options to stay in power after voters elected a fragmented Parliament.
Rajoy’s ruling conservative Popular party came first in Sunday’s election with 123 seats but fell far short of the 176 majority and way below the 186 seats it won in 2011. Rajoy, seeking a second term, said he will “try to form a stable government'” but has no immediately obvious partner to do that.
The Socialists came second with 90 seats and could seek a coalition with other leftist groups.
Socialist party official Cesar Luena said Rajoy’s Popular Party, which won the most votes, should have the first crack at forming a government but ruled out supporting Rajoy, eliminating the already slim possibility of an unprecedented coalition of the two parties which had dominated Spanish politics for decades.
The inconclusive result paves the way to weeks or possibly months of negotiations. Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA in London, said Spain may now face an era of “political paralysis and instability.”
Spain’s benchmark Ibex 35 index down by nearly 2 percent in trading Monday, suggesting investor jitters following the result.
Two newcomer parties burst onto the scene, capitalizing on many voters’ disenchantment with high unemployment, a seemingly endless string of official corruption cases and disgust over the country’s political status quo.
Far-left Podemos gained 69 seats for third place, making it a possible king-maker, while the centrist, business-friendly Ciudadanos got an influential 40.
“Spain is not going to be the same anymore,” said jubilant Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias.
Rajoy’s best chance would seem to be with Ciudadanos — because of their shared center-right, business-friendly politics — but the party has ruled out supporting Rajoy as prime minister, chiefly because of corruption cases in his party.
Ciudadanos’ leader, Albert Rivera, said Monday that his party and the Socialists should abstain in the Parliament vote and give the Popular Party a possibility of forming a minority government.
“It’s the first time Spain has three large parties figuring out how to work together in order to have a functioning government,” said Federico Santi from the think-tank Eurasia Group. “It will take time to adjust to this.”
Under the constitution, King Felipe VI will invite a party leader — normally the party with the most votes — to form a government. The nominated leader must garner a majority of deputies’ votes in Parliament in a first round to take office, or the most votes in the second round.
Deputies take their seats by Jan. 13 but there is no time limit on staging the first vote. If the candidate is not immediately successful, Parliament has two months to elect a prime minister or call fresh elections.
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