March 01, 2016
MADRID (AP) — 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
MADRID (AP) — 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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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