A STRONG showing by a pair of upstart parties in Spain’s general election Sunday is threatening to upend the country’s traditional two-party system, with exit polls projecting that the ruling Popular Party won the most votes but fell far short of a parliamentary majority and risks being booted from power.

    Days or weeks of negotiations may be needed to determine who will govern Spain, with the new far left Podemos and business-friendly Ciudadanos parties producing shockwaves.

    In past elections, Popular Party and the main opposition Socialists were the established powerhouses and only needed support from tiny Spanish parties to get a majority in parliament when they didn’t win one from voters.

    An exit poll for the state-owned RTVE channel gave the Popular Party 26.8 percent of the vote in Sunday’s election. The Socialist Party, with 20.5 percent, was running neck-and-neck for second place with Podemos, with 21.7 percent, the poll said.

    It put support for the new business-friendly Ciudadanos party far behind the others, at 15.2 percent. Jorge Clemente, spokesman for pollster TNS Demoscopia, says its figures are based on 180,000 face-to-face interviews.

    Another exit poll conducted for Antena 3 television channel gave the Popular Party 28.1 percent, Podemos 21.1 percent, the Socialists 20.4 percent and 14.9 percent for Ciudadanos.

    If the projections are confirmed, analysts said it could make it extremely difficult for the Popular Party to form a government because it wouldn’t get a majority of seats in parliament by allying with Ciudadanos, its most natural partner.

    The country’s lower house of parliament has 350 seats and with 28 percent of the vote counted Sunday night, the Popular Party was on track to get 124 seats. The Socialists were headed toward winning 94 seats while the number for Podemos and allies was predicted at 61, with 31 for Ciudadanos.

    But the center-left Socialists could team up with Podemos and Ciudadanos in a three-way “coalition of losers” similar to an outcome that happened in Portugal last month.

    The Socialists could get more seats in Parliament than Podemos with fewer votes because Spanish election law gives extra weight to rural voters. (SD-Agencies)