Sánchez depends on United We Can | The congress of …

The Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE), has failed to secure the necessary congressional votes to stay in power. He still has a 48-hour margin to agree with United We (UP) before the next congressional session and reach the majority that will lead to his re-election.

After tense negotiations with UP, at the last moment, the left-wing party led by Pablo Iglesias decided to abstain. This gesture can be interpreted as a desire to reach an agreement with Sánchez before the second decisive vote that will take place. outside on Thursday.

The candidate of the leader of the PSOE received the favorable vote of 124 deputies, an insufficient number since it took an absolute majority of 176 votes to be elected at this first sitting of nomination. He had the support of all members of his party and the sole legislator of the Regionalist Party of Cantabria (PRC).

170 deputies voted against his inauguration, those of the conservative Popular Party (PP), of the Liberals of the citizens, of the party of extreme right Vox and the Catalan separatists, as well as other small parties.

There were also 52 abstentions, mostly from United Podemos and the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), two blocks whose vote is essential to the re-election of Sanchez.

In total, 346 of the 350 representatives of the Congress of Deputies voted because of the absence of the four Catalan separatists who are in provisional prison following the trial that was imposed on them for the failed secession process of 2017.

The vote given by Irene Montero, spokesperson and "number two of the party", on maternity leave and voting by telemetry for "no" to the investiture of Sanchez, did not allow to change direction . online with your match. "This morning, we were at zero and finally we changed our vote and we voted to abstain as a gesture to continue to facilitate the negotiations, as we have done for two months, during which we proceeded to many resignations, "he said. Ione Bellarra, parliamentary spokesperson for UP.

In the tense negotiations between the PSOE and the UP, Vice President Carmen Calvo confirmed the offer to Irene Montero of the Vice Presidency, vested with powers in the field of childhood . They would also be entrusted to the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, where they would have expertise in the field of housing.

Pablo Iglesias (UP) described these offers as "decorative". "You intend to say to the 3.7 million citizens who voted for us that their vote is worth less than that of those who voted for the PSOE.We are a modest and young political force, but we do not will not be trampled or humiliated by anyone, "he told the Spanish Congress yesterday.

"The Socialist Party (PSOE) must act because people have high hopes that a leftist government is possible and no one would understand that this was not the case," added Bellarra, after the first Sanchez vote on the nomination.

The president's hopes are in vain because negotiations between his party and UP are paying off in the run-up to Thursday's simple majority vote. Sanchez insisted today on wanting to rule with UP, although he described as "impossible" the claims of the left – wing force led by Pablo Iglesias, thereby cooling the possibility of "fighting". a deal.

"There are only two alternatives: that Spain has a government and progress, or that it does not and is blocked." The vast majority of Spaniards want the country goes from the front, "said Congress Secretary-General Rafael Simancas of the PSOE. The Socialists convened a meeting tomorrow to discuss the progress of negotiations to validate a possible coalition agreement.

Several smaller parties that abstained today have indicated that they would not block Sánchez if he managed to reach a coalition government agreement with the UP. Among them, some parties of Basque and Catalan sovereignty however criticized Sanchez for being more devoted to the abstention of the right than to support United Podemos. If the current president wants to be invested on Thursday, he will have to at least turn the abstention of United We can into a "yes", which ERC (independentista Republican Catalans) and the PNV (Basque nationalists) s 39 ; abstained.

Never before in Spain, a candidate for the presidency of the government, who had won the elections without an absolute majority, had gone to the debate on the investiture without an agreement reached to be elected.

On Tuesday, will be held the second inaugural session where, contrary to what is happening today, the PSOE needs a simple majority (more affirmative votes than negative votes) to keep the Presidency. If they failed, a period of uncertainty would open. Some of the options could be a new nomination vote or the calling of elections for November.