Interview mit Rosa Navarrete

Rosa Navarrete, wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin der Fachrichtung Gesellschaftswissenschaftliche Europaforschung und Expertin für die Politik in Spanien, ist im Rahmen der aktuellen Wahlereignisse in Spanien von der BBCzu den Ergebnissen und deren Interpretation interviewt worden (englische Übersetzung siehe unten).

Englische Übersetzung: 

The electoral result of this Sunday's general elections in Spain represented a setback for the far-right's advance in the country, with a clear decline in support for Vox, thus breaking a streak of success for the extreme right in Europe. Vox lost 19 seats and more than 600,000 votes in these elections, in which the conservative Popular Party (PP) was the most voted.

The Spanish far-right party dropped from the 52 deputies obtained in 2019 to 33, making it clear that the formula of presenting itself as an anti-immigration party, a denier of climate change and gender violence, and contrary to groups such as the LGBTI did not like many voters.

The government pacts at the local and regional level also took their toll on the party led by Santiago Abascal. Citizens saw how in some places where Vox governs in coalition with the conservative Popular Party (PP) LGBTI flags were prohibited, plays were censored, bike lanes were closed and Equality councils were eliminated, among other measures. Thus, voters had and an idea of what an eventual PP-VOX government at the national level would look like.

Consequently, it seems that the conservative voters and those opposed to the left-wing government of Pedro Sánchez who wanted a change opted for a useful vote for the PP. On the other hand, the left-wing electorate that was hesitating whether to vote decided to do so given the prospect of a PP-Vox coalition government. In order to understand what happened in the latest general elections in Spain, the BBC has reached out to different experts, including Dr. Rosa M. Navarrete, who works as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Political science with a focus on European Integration and International Relations of the Saarland University.

According to Dr. Navarrete, the outcome for the far-right in Spain should not be seen as a failure for Vox, as it continues to be the third political force, and the loss of seats is attributed to the party's overrepresentation in the parliament due to its previous success in the 2019 elections, which were a result of a repeat election.

Finally, when asked about what can be done to stop the far-right, Navarrete suggests that it is crucial for conservative parties not to adopt the discourse and agenda of the extreme right. Furthermore, she emphasizes the importance of moderate parties centering their policies on issues directly affecting people's well-being to prevent them from being swayed by radical rhetoric.

Link to the article: https://www.bbc.com/mundo/articles/cjrlwpxwlnvo?xtor=AL-73-%5Bpartner%5D-%5Bgoogle.news%5D-%5Bheadline%5D-%5Bmundo%5D-%5Bbizdev%5D-%5Bisapi%5D

Dr. Rosa M. Navarrete is a postdoctoral researcher and lecturer at the Chair of Political Science with a focus on European Integration and International Relations in the Department of European Social Research at Saarland University.

Previously, she was a postdoctoral researcher at MZES (University of Mannheim), a research associate at the Chair of Comparative Government at the University of Mannheim, a research associate for the project "Democratic dissatisfaction in Southern Europe: the political consequences of the crisis" at the University of York and a research associate at the Autonomous University of Madrid.

In 2019, she finished her PhD in Political Science at the University of Mannheim. In her dissertation, she studied the effect of left-right orientations on political behaviour. Her research interests include comparative politics, European politics, political behaviour and political attitudes. Her work has appeared in Electoral Studies, Party Politics, JEPOP, Comparative European Politics, European Politics and Society and Frontiers in Political Science.

Her most recent publications are “The relevance of EU issues in German elections“ co-authored by Marc Debus and included in the book “The Impact of EU Politicisation on Voting Behaviour in Europe” edited by Marina Costa-Lobo, and “Religiosity and ideology in Western Europe and the United States” written together with Guillermo Cordero and Jaime Balaguer as a chapter of the book “Religious voting in Western democracies” edited by José Ramón Montero, Paolo Segatti and Kerman Calvo.