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Spanish socialist leader leaves "door open" in talks to form gov't

Xinhua, February 6, 2016 Adjust font size:

The leader of the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) Pedro Sanchez said on Friday he was "leaving the door open and his hand stretched out" as he tries to form a government.

Sanchez was speaking following his first round of talks with party leaders. Earlier this week, King Felipe asked him to try and form a government after acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said he lacked the necessary support.

Sanchez's party has 90 seats in the 350-seat Congress. He is attempting to secure the support of left-wing Podemos, center-right Citizens and other minority parties, including Catalan and Basque nationalists.

Friday saw Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias propose "exclusive negotiations" with the PSOE leaving Citizens out of any future government.

Sanchez lamented Spain needs "a plural dialogue open to the other parties." He asked Iglesias to reconsider his position, as the "alternative is a government of the PP."

Sanchez added his party would start working groups with Spain's other parties over the coming days in order to find common ground on issues such as how to combat unemployment, poverty, corruption and to regenerate democracy in Spain, as well as dealing with the issue of the Catalan region.

"We will negotiate plurally and negotiate with those parties who want to change politics in our country," he said. Endit