Spanish PM Calls for Early Election after Local Poll Defeat

Spanish Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called Monday for an early national election after left-wing parties suffered a defeat in a regional election.
The Spanish top official said that he intends to dissolve parliament and had notified the decision to King Felipe VI.
Sanchez had stated repeatedly that he intends to serve a full term and that elections would be held in December, at the conclusion of his EU rotating presidency, which begins on July 1st, reported Reuters.
On Sunday, the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) and its junior partner Podemos lost ground, while the People’s Party (PP) and the anti-immigrant party Vox did better than expected.
The leader of Spain’s conservative opposition party PP Alberto Nunez Feijoo hailed the news of a sudden general election in July and urged voters to give his party a clear majority.
The PP won six out of the ten areas administered by the Socialists, including Valencia (east), one of the country’s most populated and prosperous.
The far-right Vox party is ready for forging national and regional coalitions with the PP, said Vox head Santiago Abascal on Monday.
It is extremely uncommon for a Spanish government to call for a sudden election following a bad regional performance.