Joe Duggan (Reporter)
AN election pact between left wing parties Podemos and the IU has catapulted them ahead of the Socialist PSOE in opinion polls.
The Unidos Podemos coalition stands to get 25.6% of the vote in this month’s general election, according to the Metroscopia poll.
It puts them well ahead of Pedro Sanchez’s PSOE socialist party on 20.2%, while the PP are only narrowly ahead on 28.5%.
With Pablo Iglesias and Alberto Garzon’s parties pushing the PSOE aside, Spain’s traditional centre-left party now faces its sternest test since Spain returned to democracy in 1977.
Ciudadanos’ share of the vote is up 16.6%, from the 13.9% in December’s election.
But with no party commanding an overall majority for the June 26 poll, Spain again faces the nightmare scenario of its politicians trying to thrash out a coalition government.
