The situation in Spain shows no signs of unblocking itself. Pedro Sanchez, leader of the socialists, rejected Rajoy's proposal of a government of broad understandings and has not even considered the idea of negotiating an agreement starting from the socialist party's programmatic points. Many, especially among international observers, struggle to understand such a choice, which, as Rajoy warned, could lead to the third electoral round in less than a year. But there are two factors to take into consideration, two perspectives that help not to justify but at least to understand the background of the current situation.
A first element is a personal factor. Rightly or wrongly, the figure of Rajoy is considered by many to be worn out, compromised by scandals, steeped in old politics and opaque behavior. Allying with such a figure, for the young Sanchez who would like to present himself as the new face of Spanish politics, is not easy. Especially after Sanchez spent a good part of his electoral campaign in personal attacks on Rajoy, to the point of calling him indecent in a TV confrontation.
Also for this reason, many hoped, even before the second elections, that Rajoy would decide to take a step back to allow for a renewal within the Popular Party and facilitate subsequent agreements. But Rajoy has never given a sign to even think about it, least of all after he won the election.
A second element is political. Sanchez has problems maintaining the internal stability of his party, which last year lost a lot of ground to Podemos, and only narrowly prevented the PSOE from losing its role as the first party of the left in the June elections. It is possible that now his main thought is therefore to recover ground in the left-wing political space in order to keep the role of the socialist party and its leadership as secretary at the same time. An agreement with Rajoy, in his eyes, could give votes to Podemos and increase divisions in the party.
It is perhaps no coincidence that Sanchez motivated his no to Rajoy by claiming that "the left cannot support a right-wing government” and that “if Rajoy wants to govern he must find support among the right-wing parties”, dusting off a right-left distinction that a year ago, with the advent of Podemos and Ciudadanos seemed a little faded to make room for the old-new distinction, conservation-change (a politicization actually already taken up by Podemos before the elections, when it allied with Izquierda Unida).
On the other hand - Sanchez and Iglesias must have thought - if an old conservative like Rajoy won the elections again, losing less ground than younger and new leaders, perhaps even the rhetoric of the new and of change has lost some of its edge. Whether the solution is a return to the right-left dichotomy remains to be seen.
In the meantime though the country remains hostage to these tactics and personalities. And no one seems to think that perhaps it is these who have alienated so many people from politics and parties, whether they are old or new, right or left.
