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Spain’s Socialists face uphill task to form government Spain’s Socialists face uphill task to form government
(about 4 hours later)
MADRID — Spain’s Socialist party leader 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. MADRID — Spain’s Socialist party leader pledged Tuesday to bring down unemployment, roll back labor reforms enacted in the name of austerity and mount a corruption crackdown if a majority of parliamentary deputies back his bid to form a new government following an inconclusive December election.
Pedro 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 Pedro Sanchez faces an uphill battle because lack of support from other parties suggests he won’t succeed even though the issues he highlighted are the ones Spanish voters identify as most important.
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 seats, and far-left newcomer Podemos, with 69, have said they will vote against him. Sanchez’s party came in second in the Dec. 20 election as voters angry with Spain’s political status quo upended the country’s traditional two-party system by giving strong support to a pair of upstarts: far-left Podemos and business-friendly Ciudadanos.
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. The country’s Popular Party that ran the country from 2011-2015 came in first, but didn’t win back its majority in the 350-seat lower house of parliament. Acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who now presides over a caretaker government, refused to try to form a government because he lacked support.
If he fails in both votes, parliament will have two months to choose a government or face a new election on June 26. Sanchez’s Socialists won 90 seats and have support from Ciudadanos, which won 40 — but that’s far short of the 176 needed to win the parliamentary government formation vote Wednesday night.
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 Popular Party has 123 seats and Podemos has 69 and both have pledged to vote against Sanchez. The remaining 28 seats are split among smaller parties.
The election, 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. With Sanchez expected to lose on Wednesday, fierce negotiations are expected ahead of a second vote Friday night with different winning rules.
Sanchez must then get more votes for him than against him — a lower bar which allows parties to abstain, letting a rival in power in return for concessions. Parties who oppose him in the first vote also have the option of changing tactics and voting for him in the second one.
If Sanchez fails to win confirmation in both votes, King Felipe VI has two more months to allow a party leader to try again — or call a new election for June 26.
A governing alliance of parties not including the first-place winner has never happened nationally for Spain, but has at the regional and local levels.
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This story has corrected the grammar in the headline to face, not faces. A previous version of this story has corrected the grammar in the headline to face, not faces.
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.