• Spain, Parliament again rejects Pedro Sanchez
  • Spain, King Felipe charges Sanchez with the formation of the new government

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10 September 2019The Spanish government will probably not be done. After a meeting in the House (the second in two days) of almost four hours, the break of negotiations for a possible coalition seems to be very close. According to the newspaper El País, the party of premier Pedro Sánchez and the possible allies of Unidas Podemos have leaked the news that the negotiation between the parties is practically over.

Spain went to the vote last April 28 with a landslide victory by the Socialists who, however, fail to form a new government. Sánchez's investiture is therefore blocked.

Spokesmen of the two political groups after the meeting at the Palace of the Courts of Madrid have expressed negativity on the continuation of the negotiation. Dry Adriana Lastra (Psoe): "We see no way out of this situation by Unidas Podemos on the option we propose. There is no way to find the agreement". The replica of Pablo Echenique for Unidas Podemos is ready: "The PSOE does not change its mind to form a one-party government, as if it had an absolute majority".

The socialist party needs an absolute majority, or 176 seats out of 350 in the Chamber, to govern and send Sánchez to the Moncloa Palace. The socialists alone are 123, finding the agreement with Unidas Podemos, which has 42, would reach 165. A number that would be sufficient because the PSOE has already found the agreement with the 6 MPs of the PNV (Vasco nationalist party) and with the 15 deputies of Erc (Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya), ready to abstain, thus reducing the absolute majority to 167.

No other meetings between the parties are scheduled for now. Tomorrow in the House, the leaders of the two parties, Pedro Sánchez and Pablo Iglesias, will be seen. It is very probable that a final breakup of a negotiation that has been going on for more than three months (the chambers were made on May 21st) is arriving. All this at two weeks from September 23, deadline for the investiture of Sánchez as president.

In the event that an agreement is not found for this date, the elections for November 10 will be automatically proclaimed, according to article 99, paragraph 5 of the Spanish Constitution which says: "If two months have passed since the first vote for the investiture, without that no candidate has obtained the confidence of the Chamber, the King will dissolve both chambers and convene new elections ". And for Spain this would mean the fourth election in four years.