Spanish Parliament refuses Pedro Sanchez as Prime Minister

USPA NEWS - On paper, the socialist candidate for president of the Spanish Government and acting Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, had it easier this Thursday to revalidate the position. Unlike last Tuesday, when he needed an absolute majority to be elected, this Thursday was enough for a simple majority. But Sanchez met the wall of the Congress who, with 155 "no" and 66 abstentions, rejected his appointment to the Head of Government.

As happened on Tuesday, Pedro Sanchez only obtained the favorable votes of the Socialist Party and the only PM of the Cantabrian Regionalist Party: 124 in total. Against that, he received 155 votes against - those of the conservative Popular Party, the centrist Citizens, the far-right party Vox, the Catalan independence of Junts per Cat and the Canarian and Navarrese nationalists. The socialist candidate needed the favorable votes of the coalition of the extreme left Podemos (We can), but this formation abstained, as did the nationalists and the independentistas Basques, the Catalan Republicans and the Valencian extreme left.

The pre-voting debate was an exchange of reproaches between the socialist candidate, Pedro Sanchez, and the leader of Podemos, Pablo Iglesias. The socialists knew from Wednesday night that they were going to lose the vote, after giving up negotiations with Podemos for the formation of a coalition government. They accused Podemos of demanding a vice-presidency and five ministries, all of them autonomous with respect to the rest of the Government. “I need a coherent and cohesive government, not two governments within the Government,“ said Pedro Sanchez during the pre-vote debate. “If they give me a choice between presiding over a government that does not serve Spain and my convictions, I have no doubt: I choose my convictions,“ he added shortly after, assuming the parliamentary rejection that was coming.

With the rejection of the appointment of Pedro Sanchez a period of two months is opened to avoid the repetition of the elections. The president of the Congress, Meritxell Batet, will report this Friday to King Philip VI, who will decide whether to grant an extra term to the socialist candidate to obtain the necessary support to revalidate the position or initiate a new round of contacts with the representatives of the political parties to appoint a new candidate. In any case, if no candidate obtains the endorsement of the Congress to be Prime Minister before September 23, the Parliament would be automatically dissolved and elections would be called for November 10.

A scenario that could benefit the Socialist Party and the conservative Popular Party. Surveys published in recent weeks anticipate a growth of the two main parties and a collapse of the new formations that have emerged in recent years in Spanish politics. These same surveys indicate that the Socialists would increase their number of deputies, so that they could reach an absolute majority.