Spain’s Pedro Sanchez loses bid to be confirmed as prime minister, paving way for possible election in November
- Sanchez’s Socialist party won an election in April but fell short of a majority
- He has until mid-September to win Parliament’s backing, but the party has said it would not install him as PM if he failed to reach a coalition deal by July
Sanchez in theory has until mid-September to win parliament’s backing – but the Socialists said this month they would give up trying to install him if he failed to secure confirmation in July.
The Socialist party won an election in April but fell short of a majority. It needed the support of the far-left Unidas Podemos to be confirmed but the two parties failed to reach a deal on a coalition government.
“A deal wasn’t possible,” Sanchez told lawmakers, before adding: “I want to be Spain’s prime minister, but not at any price.”
Sanchez strongly criticised the way Podemos and its leader Pablo Iglesias had conducted the talks, but did not say what his next step would be.
If he decides against a further attempt or he is unsuccessful, a repeat election will be held on November 10, Spain’s fourth in as many years.
The negotiations became deadlocked on the question of what role Podemos would play in a coalition government, which would be Spain’s first in the modern era.
Three months of frequently acrimonious talks suggest that, even if there eventually was any coalition government, it could be vulnerable to similar divisions.
Sanchez lost Thursday’s vote by a wide margin, receiving the support of only his own 123 Socialist lawmakers and one from Cantabria. Everybody else either abstained or voted against him.
