Podemos and Socialists reach agreement for future Spain’s coalition government
The leader of Spain’s far-left Podemos party said on Friday he was willing to give up having a post in a coalition government, potentially opening a way out of stalled power-sharing talks with acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s Socialists.
Sanchez, who won the most seats but fell short of a majority in a parliamentary election in April, hopes to be sworn in as prime minister in a parliamentary vote next week and even with Podemos’s support he will still needs some extra votes from other parties.
“Now I am convinced that there will be an agreement. The party is (too),” Socialist Party deputy secretary general Adriana Lastra told reporters in Oviedo, northern Spain.
“That’s what we are going to be working on in the next hours, days … with the goal that this country next week will have a fully functioning government,” she added.
An alliance of the Socialists with Podemos, their most natural political ally, would bring Sanchez almost within touching distance of the parliamentary majority he needs.
A parliamentary debate starts on Monday ahead of the first confirmation vote, scheduled for around 1800 (1600 GMT) on Tuesday.
To be sworn in again as prime minister, Sanchez needs to win an absolute majority or at least 176 votes. If he loses the vote, a two-month countdown will begin until a new election is held.
