Spain’s Sanchez Will Meet Party Leaders in Bid to Break Deadlock

(Bloomberg) -- Spain’s acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will seek meetings with Podemos and other parties in coming weeks in a bid to break the deadlock over forming a new government.

He’ll be in touch with parties to organize the meetings for the end of August and early September, Sanchez told reporters in Madrid on Friday. The fresh round of contacts won’t include the center-right party Ciudadanos whose leaders have refused to meet him, he said.

Sanchez lost twin votes in parliament last month aimed at securing approval to form a new government after his Socialists won the most seats in general elections held in April. He failed to win enough support after talks with Podemos over the distribution of the powers in a potential coalition government broke down.

The clock is now ticking for Sanchez to line up support for a government program by Sept. 23. If he fails, new elections will be called for November.

To contact the reporter on this story: Thomas Gualtieri in Madrid at tgualtieri@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Charles Penty at cpenty@bloomberg.net, Rodrigo Orihuela

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