Is it over for Mariano Rajoy?

ACTING Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy appears to be the only person in Spain who sees the glass half empty while the rest of the country sees it half full.

Rajoy has been unable to come to terms with the fact that he is the obstacle for a successful coalition government while he remains at the helm.

The Popular Party (PP) did win the December 20 elections, but the acting prime minister believes that he was the galvanising force behind that victory.

He has forgotten that many of the conservative party supporters traditionally vote for the PP, regardless of who is the prime ministerial candidate.

At this point, Rajoy also can’t proudly present his candidacy at the upcoming investiture session now that his image has been further tarnished by the massive anti-public corruption sweep in Valencia that ensnared many of his close PP associates and friends.

Socialist Pedro Sánchez, who appears to be the only viable candidate at this point to form a government, said that he already has a list of points that he will present to the other parties with the hopes of coming up with a coalition.

He has refused to speak to Rajoy, who insists on pushing for the seemingly impossible “great coalition” between the PP, Socialists and Ciudadanos.

Instead, Sánchez has been open to meet privately with Ciudadanos’ Albert Rivera.

In a poll taken over the weekend by Efe News Agency, more than 53% of those asked said that they didn’t want to see any government formed between the PP and Socialists.

And there are several reasons why a PP-Socialist coalition wouldn’t work.

First, there is too much bad blood that remains between mid-level figures inside both parties.

At the same time, the PP won’t be willing to change its own visions for a Spanish welfare state, which are far more conservative than the Socialist view.

And then there is Constitutional reform, which will never get off the ground with the two major parties setting their own separate agendas.

It’s over for Mariano Rajoy.