BY this weekend the Balearics could have a new coalition government and I sincerely hope that this horse-trading which has been taking place over the last few weeks will finally come to an end. I suspect that the new government will be what is now called a centre/left coalition of the Spanish Socialist Party, the Majorcan Unionists and the left-wing pact. It effectively means that the most voted party, the Partido Popular, will not be in government at all. I don't think this state of affairs serves the cause of democracy.
While the three party coalition will have polled an estimated 53 percent of the vote (combined) and the Partido Popular 47 percent, it does beg the question why does the winner not govern? But this is the ridiculous system in Spain. It is also a system which is even being copied in Britain (the elections to the Scottish parliament last month followed proportional representation rather than the tested first-past-the post-system). The Socialist Party, while not being the most voted party in the Balearics does have an advantage over their more successful counterparts in the Partido Popular, they can always count on various smaller parties which are willing to pact. The Partido Popular, while being hugely successful, had only one real ally, the Majorcan Unionists, but even they now appear to be jumping ship. Either the election system needs to be changed or the Partido Popular need to make some friends otherwise if they don't get a majority they will always end up as losers.
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