The political party called “Dignity and Citizenship Movement” (MDyC), which has been operating in Ceuta since 2014 and currently has 2 members in the 25-seat parliament, chose its candidate list from purely Muslim citizens for the first time.
Although more than 800,000 Muslims are registered in the local elections throughout Spain, it is noteworthy that the participation of Muslims in political life is very limited and low, except for the cities of Ceuta and Melilla.
RESULTS OF LOCAL ELECTIONS WILL SHINE LIGHT ON GENERAL ELECTIONS
The political choices that will emerge from the ballot box in these local elections are expected to shed light on the general elections that are expected to be held at the end of the year in the country.
The polls show that the Socialist Workers Party (PSOE), the major partner of the minority left coalition government, will receive the most votes in the country with 30.2 percent, followed by the main opposition People’s Party (PP) with 27.9 percent, the junior partner in power, the ultra-leftist Unidas Podemos ( UP) and the opposition far-right Vox show that they will remain at 8 percent.
In the last local elections in 2019, PSOE received 29.26 percent, PP 22.23 percent, and Vox 2.9 percent.
It is estimated that the liberal-minded Citizens (C’s) party, which emerged as the third party with 8.25 percent of the votes in the last elections, will remain below 1 percent in these elections due to the leadership problem and intra-party division.
It is predicted that the total votes of the PSOE and UP parties, which are the first coalition government in Spain, to take office in 2020, and the total votes of PP and Vox, which is shown as a possible new coalition on the right, will draw the political map in the country before the general elections.
The Sumar (Participation) party, which was founded under the leadership of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labor Susana Diaz, who left the UP, with the participation of about 10 small left parties, and which was shown as an alternative to the UP, preferred not to participate in these elections.
CORRUPTION SCANDAL IN MAIL SENT VOTES
On the other hand, the most controversial issue in these local elections was the corruption revealed in voting by mail.
It was revealed that in some districts of cities such as Melilla, Almeria, Alicante, Caceres, Zamora and Tenerife, political parties or independent candidates bought votes in exchange for money (100 to 150 euros) in voting by mail.
While 17 people have been detained in the investigations carried out, some representatives of major political parties such as PSOE and PP have also been brought under suspicion.
Although under the current law you must identify yourself with your identity to request a postal vote and receive the documents, there is no clause that requires the person to identify himself when sending the votes by registered mail.
For this reason, it is stated that the person who bought the votes manipulated the documents, placed the ballot paper of his choice for his own candidate in the envelope and took it to the post office.
Among the most curious results in the local elections, in which approximately 243 thousand more voters will cast their votes compared to four years ago, the Madrid autonomous administration and mayorship in which the PP has the majority, the mayorship in Barcelona, where Ada Colau aims to be elected for the third time, and Valencia. There are autonomous governments of Aragon and Extremadura.
In the local elections, where health, economic crisis and immigration issues are highlighted, more than 60 thousand city council members and a total of 736 self-government parliament members will be elected.