Acting PM urges Congress to back him so ¡°Spain does not end up deadlocked¡±

Spain¡¯s acting prime minister, Pedro S¨¢nchez, on Monday urged Congress to entrust him with office so that Spain ¡°does not end up deadlocked.¡±

The leader of the Socialist Party (PSOE) said that on April 28 Spaniards voted for ¡°a progressive, environmentalist, feminist and pro-European government.¡±

With them you¡¯ll manage to get invested with power, but you will be unable to govern

Pablo Casado, PP leader

Nearly three months after winning the general election, S¨¢nchez is still trying to put together enough of a majority to form a government. If he fails, Spain could be facing a fresh election in the fall ¨C the fourth in less than four years.

Despite a comfortable victory in April that gave him 123 seats in the lower house of parliament, S¨¢nchez is still well short of the 176 required for an absolute majority. And 80 days of talks with the anti-austerity Unidas Podemos, the Socialists¡¯ most likely partner, have yet to yield any clear results.

In a two-hour address, S¨¢nchez discussed the challenges that he will be tackling as the new leader of Spain: ¡°Unemployment and precarious jobs, the digital revolution, the climate emergency, the discrimination of women and the future of Europe.¡± He also defended constitutional reforms to prevent future situations of post-election deadlock.

In an apparent remark to the far-right Vox party, S¨¢nchez said about gender violence: ¡°To those wishing to minimize this dramatic situation, to go back to the past or to make up conspiracy theories, they should know that they¡¯re going to have us standing across from them.¡±

Towards the end of his speech, S¨¢nchez appealed directly to Unidas Podemos: ¡°Dealmaking is not easy, but we are united by the promise of the left.¡±

Podemos, which was aiming for a coalition government with the Socialists, says that so far S¨¢nchez has only offered them ¡°symbolic responsibilities¡± within his future government. The latter holds that a joint government with Podemos would be impossible due to irreconcilable differences over critical matters such as the situation in Catalonia.

The Catalan question

On Monday, S¨¢nchez avoided discussing Catalonia at all. This omission drew heavy criticism from opposition parties across the political spectrum, from the conservative Popular Party (PP), to the center-right Ciudadanos, far-right Vox, and the regional parties Catalan Republican Left (ERC), Navarra Suma, Canaries Coalition, Comprom¨ªs, Regionalist Party of Cantabria and even the Basque radical-left Bildu.

The ERC¡¯s congressional speaker, Gabriel Rufi¨¢n, called it ¡°irresponsible and negligent.¡± And the head of the main opposition PP, Pablo Casado. noted: ¡°You haven¡¯t seen the white elephant, and it was right there.¡±

Dealmaking is not easy, but we are united by the promise of the left

Pedro S¨¢nchez, acting PM

At one point Casado also talked about ¡°the purple elephant with yellow ribbons,¡± reinforcing his main message that S¨¢nchez is hostage to Podemos (whose party color is purple) and the Catalan separatists (who use yellow ribbons as symbols of support for jailed secessionist leaders): ¡°With them you¡¯ll manage to get invested with power, but you will be unable to govern,¡± he predicted.

Some of the smaller parties could hold the key to S¨¢nchez¡¯s successful return to office if he does not secure an absolute majority on Tuesday and a second round of voting is held on Thursday, as seems increasingly likely. At that point the Socialist candidate would only need a simple majority of more yes than no votes, and abstentions could prove critical.

English version by Susana Urra.