Second 'no' vote for PSOE's Pedro Sánchez: Could this mean new elections for Spain?
Saturday, March 5, 2016 @ 2:33 PM
IN AN unprecedented move in Spain's democratic history, socialist leader Pedro Sánchez has lost his second attempt at being invested as president after his party's only supporters were the 40 MPs from centre-liberals Ciudadanos.
Left-wing Podemos' 65 MPs and its own supporters, United Left's two MPs, plus Valencia-based Compromís and the various nationalist parties in the Basque Country and Catalunya all voted against, as did the PSOE's arch rivals and political opposites, the right-wing PP.
Podemos' leader Pablo Iglesias has never made any secret of the fact he does not support any new government which would involve Ciudadanos, whom his party considers to be 'far-right' and with policies that 'only benefit the IBEX 35' – Spain's answer to the FTSE 100, but the top 35 companies instead of the top 100 – rather than the general public and their social welfare needs.
And Ciudadanos has always been reluctant to work with Podemos, although so far, it has been the only party which is prepared to negotiate with literally anyone, pointedly does not seek leadership or status for its own members, and whose only real red line is that it will not allow a referendum on independence for Catalunya.
Iglesias is in favour of a referendum – although he does not support Catalunya's becoming a separate nation, he firmly believes Spain's unity lies in equality in discussion and in democracy rather than 'forcing' the region to stay connected through denying it a voice.
Podemos has also said several times that he believes the 'real' negotiation would not be ready to start until after the in-house voting had been lost by Sánchez yesterday (Friday).
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com