Spain’s King Felipe VI calls on acting prime minister to form a new government

On Tuesday,  Spain’s King Felipe VI nominated acting prime minister Pedro Sanchez to face a parliamentary vote and form a new government.

Just last week, Sanchez’s conservative rival failed in a bid to become the country’s new prime minister, which has now seen the current acting prime minister become the leading man to take the role on a full-time basis.

Sanchez has admitted that he will start talks with the main parties on October 4, ‘without wasting time’ and he would begin with his Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz, the head of leftist Sumar, so it looks as though this could pick up pace very quickly.

During a general election that took place on July 23, Sanchez’s Spanish Socialist Workers Party failed to secure more seats than the Conservatives of Alberto Nunez Feijoo, however, he is said to now be confident about finally securing enough support to make him the prime minister.

Pedro Sanchez to form new Spanish government

Alberto Nunez Feijoo attempted to form his own government last week but wasn’t able to convince enough people so failed to gain enough support, which means he will not be taking over from Sanchez on a permanent basis anytime soon.

Sanchez has indeed been governing Spain since 2018 when he managed to lead a no-confidence vote against the conservative Prime Minister Rajoy back in 2018, but does not have enough seats to govern the country on his own.

It is now believed that Sanchez’s best and likely only way of gaining further support and enough seats this time round is by buddying up and convincing the far-left and separatist parties – such as the people of Catalonia – in order to stay in prominent power.

The future of Spain may rest on separatist parties

That certainly won’t be easy for Sanchez, however, given that he and his party are firmly against the possibility of allowing a new independence vote, although he is willing to give into some of their demands such as wanting a blanket amnesty for people impacted in the failed 2017 Catalan independence referendum.

Current Catalan President and the leader of ERC, Pere Aragones, just last week made it very clear to Sanchez that their demands were now non-negotiable as he claimed: “If Sánchez wants to be prime minister, he must commit to holding a vote in Catalonia.”

Sanchez must move quickly to get people on his side as the clock is ticking down in government. If Sanchez isn’t able to secure a majority of lawmakers by November 27, Spain must hold new elections in January 2024.