Spain’s centrist Ciudadanos party, badly shaken by the results of the regional elections held on Sunday, has decided not to stand in the early general elections on July 23.
The general secretary of Ciudadanos, Adrián Vázquez announced in this sense, on Tuesday, that after an intense debate, the National Committee has decided not to present itself to the elections after the party was erased from the twelve regional parliaments which held elections on Sunday and almost all of the municipalities.
In doing so, he stressed at a press conference, the party is giving itself room to begin a process of ” organic and intellectual rearmament to prepare for the next election cycle.
This change in strategy was adopted by a very large majority, although some leaders disagreed, such as the party’s deputy in Congress, Edmundo Bal and Francisco Igea, the only deputy that the party retains in the autonomous community of Castile-Leon.
The President of the Spanish Government and General Secretary of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), Pedro Sanchez, announced on Monday the holding of early general elections on 23rd July next.
In an institutional statement, the day after the regional and municipal elections, won by the Popular Party (PP), Sanchez indicated that the Spaniards must decide on their political future as soon as possible.
“I took this decision, in view of the results of Sunday’s elections”, he said, noting that “it is necessary to give an answer to the citizens”.
After this decision, the Spanish Council of Ministers adopted the dissolution of the two chambers of Parliament.
It should be noted that during the elections last Sunday, marked by a strong breakthrough of the right, embodied in particular by the popular party (PP) and VOX, the centrist party Ciudadanos practically disappeared from the national political map.