This article is from the source 'washpo' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/spains-socialists-faces-uphill-task-to-form-government/2016/03/01/d8d09dca-df86-11e5-8c00-8aa03741dced_story.html
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Spain’s Socialists faces uphill task to form government | Spain’s Socialists faces uphill task to form government |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| MADRID — Spain’s Socialist party leader Pedro Sanchez is hoping to persuade a majority of parliamentary deputies to back his bid to form a new government, but the lack of support from other parties suggests he won’t be successful. | |
| Sanchez’s presentation speech Tuesday will be followed by debate and a vote Wednesday in which he will need a majority in the 350-seat parliament to succeed. | Sanchez’s presentation speech Tuesday will be followed by debate and a vote Wednesday in which he will need a majority in the 350-seat parliament to succeed. |
| But the Socialists, who won 90 seats in the Dec. 20 inconclusive election, have only the support of centrist newcomer Ciudadanos, which has 40. Both the conservative Popular Party, with 123, and far-left newcomer Podemos, with 69, have said they will vote against him. | But the Socialists, who won 90 seats in the Dec. 20 inconclusive election, have only the support of centrist newcomer Ciudadanos, which has 40. Both the conservative Popular Party, with 123, and far-left newcomer Podemos, with 69, have said they will vote against him. |
| Sanchez has another chance Friday in a vote in which he only needs more votes in favor than against. But unless several parties switch tactics and support him, or at least abstain, he doesn’t look likely to win that one either. | |
| If he fails in both votes, Parliament will have two months to choose a government or face fresh elections June 26. | |
| The ruling Popular Party came first in the Dec. 20 election but its leader, acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, refused to try to form a government, saying he lacked sufficient support. | |
| The elections, with the emergence of Podemos and Ciudadanos, led to Spain’s most fragmented Parliament in decades and shattered the dominance of the Popular Party and the Socialists. | |
| ___ | |
| This story has been corrected to fix punctuation in lede graf. | |
| Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |