Spain Sets July 23 Vote on Sanchez’s Bid to Form New Government

(Bloomberg) -- The Spanish parliament will vote July 23 on Pedro Sanchez’s bid to lead a new government as he attempts to break the deadlock caused by the inconclusive result of April’s general election.

Sanchez, Spain’s acting prime minister, telephoned Parliament Speaker Meritxell Batet and they agreed to start the investiture debate on July 22, she said in a briefing Tuesday. Should Sanchez fail to secure an absolute majority, a second vote -- in which Sanchez needs a simple majority -- will be held on July 25, Batet said.

The decision starts the clock ticking to form a new government, putting pressure on Sanchez to secure enough support in parliament. It also raises the stakes for his political rivals who will have to weigh the merits of continuing to block Sanchez against the risk of potentially losing voters if new elections are called.

In elections held in April, Sanchez’s Socialists won 123 seats in parliament, the most of any party but still far short of the 176 needed for an absolute majority. He has been trying to broker an agreement with the anti-austerity party Podemos for its deputies to support him in the vote and has appealed to the conservative People’s Party and the liberals of Ciudadanos to abstain to let him govern.

So far, Podemos has refused to declare its support in the face of Sanchez’s refusal to name figures from the anti-establishment party to ministerial posts. The PP and Ciudadanos are still insisting they will vote against him.

If Sanchez can’t win this round, he may be forced to rely on the Catalan pro-independence party ERC, with 15 seats, to ensure he can govern. That’s an option which would come at a high cost politically.

Another solution could be to call fresh elections. An opinion poll published June 30 by El Mundo newspaper showed the Socialists and PP both boosting their support while Ciudadanos, Podemos and the Spanish nationalists of Vox would all lose votes.

To contact the reporters on this story: Charles Penty in Madrid at cpenty@bloomberg.net;Thomas Gualtieri in Madrid at tgualtieri@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at cthomas16@bloomberg.net

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