AKIPRESS.COM - King Felipe VI of Spain decided on Tuesday that none of the country’s political parties had enough support to form a government, setting the stage for an election in June, six months after voters ended the nation’s traditional two-party system, reports The New York Times.

The king announced his decision after spending two days meeting with party leaders, including those in charge of the conservative Popular Party, the center-left Socialists, the far-left Podemos party and the business-friendly Ciudadanos party.

His decision means that no party will be able to assemble a minority or coalition government that would assume control of the 350-member lower house of Parliament by May 2 and sets up a new election for June 26.

Spain has been politically paralyzed since its national election on December 20, in which Podemos and Ciudadanos emerged as strong No. 3 and No. 4 parties, after decades of alternating rule between the Popular Party and the Socialists.

The upstarts were voted in by Spaniards angry about years of high unemployment, seemingly endless corruption cases affecting the Popular Party and the Socialists, plus unpopular austerity cuts hitting cherished national healthcare and public education programs.

Polls suggest a repeat election – a first for Spain since democracy was restored in 1978 – is unlikely to break the stalemate and could mean a political impasse stretching into the summer, possibly ending with yet another election.

Spain has never had a coalition government at the national level. The Socialists rejected a proposal by Mariano Rajoy, the leader of the Popular Party, for a grand coalition.

Analysts predict that the Popular Party will again take first place in the June election but will not receive the votes it needs to win back the parliamentary majority it enjoyed from 2011 to 2015.