Spain’s conservative leader says he has failed to form government

MADRID, Sept 29 (Reuters) – Spain’s conservative opposition leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo said he expected to lose a vote on Friday on his bid to become prime minister, effectively clearing the way for acting premier Pedro Sanchez to try to clinch a new term in office.

“I assume that, predictably, I won’t get it. You can call it failure if you want,” Feijoo told lawmakers in the lower house before his second investiture attempt. He lost a first vote in parliament on Wednesday.

“Today, I won’t be able to give you a government, but I have given you assurance and hope,” he added.

Sanchez, a socialist who has governed in a coalition with far-left Podemos since 2020, has said he will launch his own bid to form a government. For that, he will need to woo several Catalan and Basque parties, some of which want their regions’ independence from Madrid.

If Sanchez’s efforts prove unsuccessful, there will likely be another national election in January.

Feijoo has so far only received the support of the 137 lawmakers of his own People’s Party (PP), 33 deputies from the far-right Vox and the two representatives of small regional parties from the Canary Islands and Navarre. That left him four votes short of an outright majority.

Other regional parties have refused to back him, citing his reliance on Vox and PP’s long-standing opposition to giving the regions more autonomy.