Lawmakers in Spain are to vote on Tuesday on whether to keep Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in office, almost three months after his Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), came out on top in national elections.
But the elections were without an outright majority.
It remained unclear whether Sanchez, 47, could win the required number of votes in the Madrid parliament for re-election.
In the first round, expected early in the afternoon, he was not expected to get an absolute majority of 176 votes, in which case a second round would follow on Thursday.
Where a simple majority, more Yes votes than No votes would suffice.
Sanchez’s social democratic PSOE had been in talks with Unidas Podemos (UP) for weeks now, after having initially ruled out a coalition with the leftist coalition.
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The UP was demanding between four and five ministerial posts, according to local media but Sanchez and his party were resisting it.
Pessimism reigned on Monday as Sanchez told parliament that securing a deal with UP would be very difficult.
“We want to be more than just decoration in the new government, UP leader Pablo Iglesias said during a one-day debate before the vote.
“PSOE and UP together have 167 seats in the parliament.
“Several other smaller groups, including the Basque National Party (PNV) and Bildu, also from that region.
“They all said they would not stand in the way of a new term for Sanchez in the second vote,’’ he said.
Sanchez had been in the office since June 2018, when he toppled his conservative predecessor Mariano Rajoy, in a vote of no confidence. (NAN)
