Spanish socialists begin investiture debate against the odds

Pedro Sanchez, the leader of the Spanish Socialist Party, will set forward his proposals to form a government on Tuesday with an investiture debate that seems very difficult to win, according to local media.

Sanchez goes into the debate in the 350-seat congress with the support of his party, which won 90 seats in the Dec. 20 general election, that of the center-right Ciudadanos, who won 40 seats, and the Canary Island Coalition with 1 seat.

Lined up against those 131 seats are the remaining 219 members of congress, consisting of 123 deputies of the right-wing People's Party led by Mariano Rajoy, 69 for Pablo Iglesias' left-wing Podemos, 2 from the United Left and various Basque and Catalan Nationalist Parties.

All of these are currently committed to opposing Sanchez's attempts to be named as the next prime minister of Spain.

Sanchez accepted the challenge of attempting to form the next government at the beginning of February after Acting Prime Minister Rajoy twice told King Felipe VI he did not have the support to win an investiture debate.

There followed a month of intense but futile negotiations between the Socialists, Ciudadanos, Podemos and the other minority parties.

Sanchez can become prime minister if he wins an overall majority in the first vote, which will be held on Wednesday, or if he obtains a simple majority in a second vote to be held two days later.

With the People's Party committed to opposing him, Sanchez's only chance of success is a last-minute deal to persuade Podemos to either vote in his favor or to abstain in the second vote.

Should he fail, the negotiation process would start again.

However, if nobody is able to form a government within 60 days of Wednesday's vote, congress will be dissolved and new elections called for at the end of June. Endit