King of Spain dissolves parliament
By Catherine Hardy | With APTN



"I hope the last four months have helped us learn a few things"

MADRID: -- The King of Spain has dissolved parliament and called a parliamentary election for June 26.

It is the first time the country has re-run an election.

It has been in a political stalemate since the previous vote last December.

“This is the first time since we became a democracy that the parliament has been dissolved because we have not been able to reach an agreement of the majority necessary to form a government. I hope the last four months have helped us learn a few things,” said the President of the Spanish Parliament, Patxi Lopez.

What happened in December?

The new ballot follows four months of fruitless coalition talks between Spain’s four main parties in the wake of the last election.

The conservative People’s Party (PP) of acting prime minister Mariano Rajoy won the most votes but lost its majority.

The election marked the end of the dominance of the two traditional parties, the PP and the Socialists.

Their power base was eroded by the anti-austerity newcomers Podemos, who may team up with the far-left Izqueirda Unida.

The centrist Ciudadanos may hold the balance of power.

Will it be different this time?

It is not clear.

Polls suggest the re-run may also end in stalemate.

There are also predictions of a rise in abstentions. Experts say this could play in the favour of the traditional parties like the PP and Socialists.

-- (c) Copyright Euronews 2016-05-04

AH The parliamentary system, You only get to vote for a party but not your leader as others will decide who will best represent THEIR INTERESTS / NOT YOURS..Then their platform that the party ran on may not be implemented because under the table deals to get a majority.And a reelection can be called with the citizen not having a say so..Once again for their own interests. Mot yours.

Edited May 4, 201610 yr by sanukjim

The last word over the parliament building is DIPUTADOS.

Like any other election in any other country,it anagrams out as A STUPID DO!

just sayin.