Spain May Need 3rd Election To Get Government

It’s looking more and more like Spain will need yet a third election in order to produce a result that is actually able to form a new government. The country has not had a government since last December and two elections have failed to produce a coalition of parties that could form a government. After the last election in June, the Socialists initially tried to form a government and failed. That left the door open for the caretaker Prime Minister Rajoy and his conservative People’s Party to have their chance. But yesterday their coalition failed to get the support of Parliament, falling just six votes short of the majority they needed. Rajoy may make another attempt but it is also expected to result in failure. There are a couple of regional elections later this month and a strong result there could allow another attempt by either party to form a government. Barring that, new elections will be scheduled for December, meaning that the country that is still reeling from the financial crisis will have been virtually rudderless for over a year.

You can’t help but wonder if democracy is beginning to fail these days. Belgium went without a government for nearly two years before a government was formed back in 2010 and 2011. Republicans have spent eight years obstructing Obama. In Austria, a razor-thin election was just annulled by the courts due to voting irregularities, meaning the election will have to be re-contested. again this October. It doesn’t seem to matter whether it is a plurality/majority voting system as it is in the US or proportional representation as it is in most of Europe, governmental gridlock continues to be a problem. With all the problems confronting us, you have to wonder how long that can stand.