The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and left-wing Podemos party are blaming each other for the recent failure of government coalition talks on the eve of the second round of voting that will determine whether Pedro Sanchez will officially assume the role of prime minister
MADRID (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th July, 2019) The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and left-wing Podemos party are blaming each other for the recent failure of government coalition talks on the eve of the second round of voting that will determine whether Pedro Sanchez will officially assume the role of prime minister.
On Tuesday, the lower house of the Spanish parliament voted against confirming Sanchez, who leads the PSOE, as the head of the government. A day later, the Spanish government announced that coalition talks with Podemos had broken off as the party's demands were unacceptable. A second round of voting will happen later in the day, and the acting prime minister will need to get a simple majority to secure a win.
"It would be good if there was a coalition government in Spain. I am not sure that they [the socialists] want to sit down again [at the negotiating table]," Podemos spokesman Pablo Echenique told the Cadena SER radio station on Thursday morning.
He added that the proposals PSOE had made were not satisfactory.
"We do not want to enter the government by just any means, which is what the socialist party offers us. During the negotiations, the PSOE did not agree that the party [Podemos], for which four million voters voted, would really be competent," Echenique said, adding that all of the party's demands were "flexible."
In the meantime, acting Deputy Prime Minister and PSOE member Carmen Calvo has accused the left-wing alliance of making unrealistic demands.
"Unidas Podemos wanted to negotiate all the time from a position that does not correspond to its representation [in the parliament]," she told Cadena SER.
Calvo further stressed that Podemos' position had not changed in the course of the negotiations.
"They did not want to negotiate. They insisted only on the original idea. We tried [for the first time] in the history of Spain to create a two-party government. It was impossible," Calvo said.
If Sanchez fails to get enough votes this Thursday, King Felipe VI will have to meet with the leaders of the parliamentary groups to decide whether a new candidate will be proposed or a snap election be called.
