Socialist chief to seek parliament backing in March to lead Spain

Spain’s Socialist chief Pedro Sanchez will seek parliamentary approval next month to become prime minister, speaker Patxi Lopez announced Monday in a key step towards trying to unblock weeks of political stalemate.

The country has been mired in political deadlock since inconclusive elections on December 20, at a particularly sensitive time for the eurozone’s fourth largest economy as it emerges from a severe economic crisis.

“I have set March 2 as the day” for the much-anticipated parliamentary session, Lopez told reporters.

Lawmakers will hold debates before voting for or against a government plan submitted by Sanchez, which if successful will see the 43-year-old career politician take office.

Sanchez was nominated by the king earlier this month to be prime minister following elections that resulted in a parliament split among four main parties — none of which have enough seats to govern alone.

Since then, Sanchez has held talks with most parties in parliament to try to garner enough support for his nomination but he is far from guaranteed success as the various groups all have conflicting agendas.

– A tough task –

The ruling Popular Party, which won the election but without an absolute majority — and whose leader Mariano Rajoy stood aside in the prime ministerial race because of a lack of support — will not back the Socialists (PSOE).

Anti-austerity upstart Podemos, meanwhile, refuses to negotiate with the Socialists if they also chat to the new centrist Ciudadanos grouping, which it considers to the right.

But the Socialists want to talk with both parties.

Podemos chief Pablo Iglesias reiterated Monday that he would not work with Ciudadanos and also insisted on holding an independence referendum in the northeastern region of Catalonia — a key sticking point between Podemos and the Socialists, who reject such a move.

But he said he was “truly convinced” that Sanchez would be elected “sooner than later,” as he made public his party’s 98-page conception of what the next government should look like — a document that angered the PSOE.

“As far as I know there is one candidate for prime minister, who is Pedro Sanchez… He isn’t called Pablo Iglesias,” said a visibly irritated Antonio Hernando, spokesman for the Socialists’ parliamentary group.

“We will continue to work with all those groups that want change.”

Sanchez, who has already made public his party’s government plan, needs an absolute majority in the parliamentary vote of confidence that will take place on March 2 or 3.

If that fails, another vote will be held 48 hours later, where Sanchez will only require a simple majority.

If that is also unsuccessful, a two-month countdown begins from the date of the first vote, after which new elections will be called if no solution is found.

Sanchez still has a little over two weeks to try and get support from other parties that will guarantee him enough votes to see him through, if only in the second round.