Spain’s opposition Socialists, besieged by upstart leftist movements and struggling to win back voters, on Sunday chose economist Pedro Sanchez to lead the party and try to revive its chances in a looming election.
Sanchez, 42, a telegenic parliamentarian who burst into the limelight only in recent weeks, was elected by party members as the Socialists bid to overturn a dramatic decline.
Support for Spain’s two dominant political forces, including the center-right People’s Party (PP) now in power, has plummeted after a six-year economic downturn and corruption scandals.
New anti-austerity and anti-establishment parties tapping into that disenchantment have further fragmented the left, and the Socialists suffered their worst-ever election showing in a European Parliament vote in May, pushing former leader and party veteran Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, 62, to quit.
Sanchez, who does not have high-level experience in the shadow Cabinet or as a regional leader, must start rebuilding the party in time for next year’s election as a credible challenger to the PP, which beat the Socialists in 2011 with an absolute majority.
After wielding deep cuts in public spending, the People’s Party of Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was also punished by voters in May, but still came in first.
The Socialists have struggled to overcome criticism of how their last government handled the economy when the crisis began, and competition among leftist parties is an additional headache.
“The change of the PSOE [Socialist Party] and the change of Spain started today,” Sanchez said, after beating two other candidates by a wide margin.
He promised party executives would be “as far left” as grassroots members.
Madrid-born Sanchez, a married father of two who has also worked in the European Parliament and in Bosnia with the UN, has a tough task ahead even in rallying the party faithful.
He called for unity on Sunday, ahead of another leadership contest looming at the end of this year, when the Socialists are due to hold their first open primary vote to choose a candidate for the general election.
Meanwhile, a lurch to the left may not be enough to woo voters back; some believe the Socialists would do better to try to wrest back more of the middle ground from the People’s Party. That would be a challenge in next year’s polls.
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