SPAIN NEWS: Podemos party members give green light to coalition government with Pedro Sanchez’s PSOE

A ruling coalition to form Spain’s government in Madrid has been given the green light by Podemos party members. 

The left wing political party led by Pablo Iglesias saw 97 per cent of votes cast by its members endorse a deal which will keep Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his PSOE socialist party in office. 

A pre-agreement had been signed between the two leaders on November 12, but it needed the backing of Podemos members before it could be formally ratified. 

In the vote, of the 134,760 people who decided to take part 130,150 voted ‘yes’ (96.8 per cent), just 4,244 said ‘no’ (3.16 per cent) and 366 voted blank (0.27 per cent). As reported by Podemos, the participation was 59 per cent of active registered voters. 

According to the rules of Podemos for internal processes, a member who has accessed the party’s participation website at least once in the last year is considered an active registrant.  

By holding the vote Podemos kept to its code of ethics which promises not to enter a political pact without the go-ahead from its members.