Spain’s Socialist leader said on Monday his party would not back acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s re-election and end an eight-month political impasse after meeting him for the final time before a confidence vote in parliament on August 31.
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If he fails to garner the needed votes, Rajoy will face a second confidence vote on Friday, September 2, in which he only needs to secure more votes in favor of his government than against, meaning he could only prevail if the Socialists abstained.
But his chances of winning either remained doomed as opposition Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez reiterated his party’s decision to vote against Rajoy after a final meeting with the acting premier on Monday.
The candidate has backing from the liberals of Ciudadanos and a lone nationalist lawmaker from the Canary Islands, giving him 170 votes in the 350-seat chamber, but he’ll still lose without the Socialists.
“The important thing in this occasion is that the countdown is being triggered”, said Antonio Barroso, a London-based political analyst at Teneo Intelligence in London. His allies and opponents get to respond on Wednesday and then vote at the end of the day.
The corruption-tainted PP won both elections but failed to reach an absolute majority. “This hasn’t happened to any European country since World War II”. Any attempt by the Socialists to form an alternative majority would have to rely on parties who support Catalan demands for a vote on independence, an idea which is anathema to many Socialists. Sanchez signaled Monday he may be prepared to change his stance if the situation shifts and Rajoy said he will keep trying to broaden his support even if he loses this week.
“Spain needs a government urgently”, he said, noting that most voters had chosen his conservative Popular Party in the December and June elections and that there was no alternative government on the horizon. “We can not afford having three general elections in a year”, he said.
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Rajoy’s pessimistic comments came ahead of a key first parliamentary confidence vote on Tuesday over his bid to win another term in power.
