Putin Claims Second Term in Russia; Socialists Win Poll in Spain

The Socialist Party (PSOE) has won an unexpected victory in the Spanish elections on Sunday, coming into power after eight years of rule by the Popular Party (PP). On the same day, Vladimir Putin, the incumbent Russian President, was swept back into power, which was widely predicted.

In Spain, the conservative PP is expected to take only 148 seats with 37.47 % of the vote, while the PSOE won 164 seats with 43.01 % of the vote in the country’s 350-seat parliament.

The victory proved that the train bombings in Madrid three days prior to the polls were the decisive factor for the people. The Spanish people felt antipathy towards the PP’s support for the Iraq War.

Despite the victory, the PSOE is expected to make up a coalition government with minor parties because it failed to win 176 seats that is a majority of its parliament.

With virtually 98 percent of the votes counted in the Russian presidential election at 0800 GMT on Monday, Vladimir Putin had 71.1 percent of the vote, leading his rivals.

Jei-Gyoon Park Ki-Hyun Kim phark@donga.com kimkihy@donga.com