Responding to bad results for the party in the Galicia and Basque Country regional elections, PSOE in the Balearics said today that the results were "disappointing" but nevertheless argue that the secretary general of the party, Pedro Sánchez, should be allowed to try and form a national government.
Andreu Alcover and Bel Oliver insisted that Sánchez cannot permit Mariano Rajoy to continue governing Spain. Alcover added that the results of the two elections will not alter "the roadmap" for next year's budgets. Oliver argued that there had been no significant changes because of the elections, reiterating the point made previously by President Armengol that Sánchez should seek to form a government of the left that will represent an alternative to the current Partido Popular.
Alcover also stated that Podemos had given no indication that it was about to break the pact for government in the Balearics. Podemos have done just this in Castile-La Mancha, officially breaking agreements for government with PSOE.
Marga Prohens, spokesperson for the Partido Popular, said that President Armengol has to take some blame for what were the worst results that PSOE have experienced in Galicia and the Basque Country. She has "deceived" Sánchez into believing that he can create a political pact like that in the Balearics, observing that the pact in the Balearics is as fragile as it was in Castile-La Mancha.
Prohens attacked Armengol for not being present in parliament. She suggested that Armengol being in Brussels (for a meeting of the committee of the regions) showed how little Armengol cares about the Balearic parliament or about the "consensus and dialogue" which she preaches.
Pedro Sánchez, meanwhile, has signalled his intention to hold a party congress in December and to have primaries on 23 October to elect the secretary general. He is not throwing in the towel and so will seek re-election in an attempt to end PSOE's internal crisis. Indeed, he is challenging his critics in the party and has spoken again of seeking a wide-ranging pact, to include both Podemos and Ciudadanos, that will remove the PP and Mariano Rajoy. King Felipe will dissolve parliament on 31 October if there is still no agreed prime minister, and another general election would be held in December.