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Spain's acting PM seeks backing to form coalition in second vote Socialists and Podemos to rule together in Spanish coalition
(about 5 hours later)
Pedro Sánchez will return to parliament hoping to end nine months of political deadlock Pedro Sánchez secures backing in parliament to govern with anti-austerity alliance group
Spain’s acting prime minister will return to parliament to seek its backing to form a coalition government and bring an end to nine months of political deadlock triggered by two inconclusive general elections. Spain will be led by a coalition government for the first time in 80 years after the acting prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, narrowly secured parliamentary approval for a joint administration between his Socialist party and the anti-austerity Unidas Podemos alliance.
Pedro Sánchez, whose Spanish Socialist Workers’ party (PSOE) finished first in both elections but fell well short of a majority on each occasion, has agreed a governing pact with the far-left, anti-austerity Unidas Podemos alliance. The investiture vote on Tuesday, which Sánchez won by 167 votes to 165, with 18 abstentions, ends the nine months of political deadlock resulting from two inconclusive general elections last year.
If Sánchez wins a simple majority in the second investiture debate on Tuesday – more votes for than against – Spain will have its first coalition government since the 1930s. Sánchez’s Spanish Socialist Workers’ party (PSOE), which finished first in both elections but fell well short of a majority on each occasion, moved quickly to reach a governing pact with Unidas Podemos after the poll in November.
Although he lost the first debate on Sunday – in which an absolute majority was needed – Sánchez could be returned to office by a margin of just two votes in the latest debate. Key to Sánchez’s tight victory was the abstention of the pro-independence Catalan Republican Left party (ERC), which agreed to sit out the investiture vote after Sánchez vowed to find a solution to the “political conflict” that has dogged Spain since Catalonia’s separatist regional government tried to secede in 2017.
Sánchez has managed to secure the abstention of the pro-independence Catalan Republican Left party (ERC) by promising to find a solution to the “political conflict” that has dogged Spain since Catalonia’s separatist regional government tried to secede in 2017. However, the ERC soon made it very clear the new central government should not take its support for granted, with the MP Montserrat Bassa telling congress she “didn’t give a damn about the governability of Spain”.
However, he and his party have once again insisted the negotiations will have to respect the constitution and stressed their commitment to maintaining Spain’s territorial unity. Bassa’s sister, Dolors Bassa, was one of the Catalan leaders jailed in October by Spain’s supreme court over their roles in the failed push for regional independence in autumn 2017. Nevertheless, the ERC kept its word and abstained from the lunchtime vote.
The PSOE and Unidas Podemos have promised their joint government will increase the minimum wage, raise taxes on higher earners and big companies, and overhaul some of the labour changes introduced eight years ago when the conservative People’s party (PP) was in power.The PSOE and Unidas Podemos have promised their joint government will increase the minimum wage, raise taxes on higher earners and big companies, and overhaul some of the labour changes introduced eight years ago when the conservative People’s party (PP) was in power.
Sánchez’s opponents argue that his “Frankenstein government” would be too beholden to Catalan separatists and would pose an existential threat to Spain’s national unity. In a tweet sent after the vote, Sánchez wrote: “With the progressive coalition government, Spain is entering a time for the defence of dialogue and useful politics. A government for all people that broadens rights, restores co-existence and fights for social justice. Today is the dawn of a time of moderation, progress and hope.”
Sunday’s initial investiture debate was a rancorous affair, with the PP leader, Pablo Casado, accusing Sánchez of being a “sociopath” who had abandoned the constitution and joined forces with communists to form “a government against the state”. Sánchez’s opponents argue his “Frankenstein government” will be too beholden to Catalan separatists and pose an existential threat to Spain’s national unity.
The Socialist leader said the PP, the far-right Vox and the centre-right Citizens party were indulging in hyperbole and scaremongering. While the Socialist leader appealed for calm and consensus, and called on MPs across the political spectrum to “overcome the atmosphere of irritation”, his adversaries again went on the offensive.
“Spain isn’t going to break up,” he told congress on Sunday. “The constitution isn’t going to be broken up. But a progressive government democratically elected by the Spanish people is going to break the deadlock.” The PP leader, Pablo Casado, accused Sánchez of being an egotistical “extremist” who had left the country’s future in the hands of “terrorists and coup-mongerers” from Catalonia and the Basque country.
Sánchez said his coalition was “the best antidote to the coalition of the apocalypse”, adding: “Let’s leave the bitterness to those who have never learned to lose and who know that, right now, the moderate, sensible, rigorous and respectful ground is occupied by the progressive coalition that’s going to lead Spain for the next four years.” “Mr Sánchez, your only homeland is yourself. Instead of being a statesman, you’ve chosen to become a straw man for nationalism,” he said.
The PSOE took power in June 2018 after using a motion of no-confidence to unseat the PP government of Mariano Rajoy, which was badly tarnished by a series of corruption scandals. The PSOE and Unidas Podemos said the PP, the far-right Vox and the centre-right Citizens party were indulging in hyperbole and scaremongering.
But the Socialists have also been tainted by corruption. Nine days after the PSOE won last November’s general election, two of its former presidents in the southern region of Andalucía were found guilty of misconduct and misuse of public funds over their roles in a decade-long, €680m (£580m) fraud that led to one of the country’s biggest corruption trials. Pablo Iglesias, the leader of Unidas Podemos, called on his governing partner to respond to such intolerance with courtesy and “democratic resolve”.
The session on Tuesday, however, was short on courtesy. MPs from the pro-independence Together for Catalonia abandoned the chamber when Vox spoke, while Vox boycotted the address by the leftwing separatist Basque party EH Bildu.
Tómas Guitarte, the sole MP for Teruel Exists – a party that campaigns to improve conditions in the overlooked eponymous region of eastern Spain – received an ovation for voting despite receiving threats after he announced he would back the coalition.
The PSOE took power in June 2018 after using a motion of no confidence to unseat the PP government of Mariano Rajoy, which was tarnished by a series of corruption scandals.
But the Socialists have also been tainted by corruption. Nine days after the PSOE’s election victory in November, two of its former presidents in the southern region of Andalucía were found guilty of misconduct and misuse of public funds over their roles in a decade-long, €680m (£580m) fraud that led to one of Spain’s biggest corruption trials.