KING Felipe VI's annual Christmas Eve speech once again included a covert appeal to secessionist politicians, as well as raising concerns about young adults' struggle to afford housing and violence against women.
Sánchez's presidential hopes pinned on Thursday as first voting round fails
23/07/2019
PEDRO Sánchez has failed in the first round of the investiture ceremony and will now have to work hard to persuade his non-supporters to back him in round two, on Thursday.
In the first leg of a presidential investiture, a candidate needs a majority of 'yes' votes from MPs to succeed, and if this fails, a second session will require simply more 'yes' than 'no' votes.
To this end, parties not in favour of a given candidate due to clashing values, but who consider it important for a reigning government to be formed, can abstain from voting, which may help in the second round as it will cut down the number of 'no' votes and potentially lead to the number of 'yes' votes exceeding them.
Sánchez's negotiations with left-wing Podemos, which have so far not borne fruit, and the ongoing issue of Catalunya's independence bid were the main stumbling blocks to the PSOE leader's being sworn in as national president.
Podemos, left-wing regional party in Valencia, Compromís and Basque parties PNV and EH-Bildu abstained, with the latter two insisting on better financing and support for their region before they gave a 'yes' and the other two criticising the failed negotiations between the PSOE and Podemos.
Both parties said they were still open to talks aimed at forming a successful coalition, and Sánchez appears to have buried his idea of governing in a minority and has expressed his desire to reach a deal with Podemos, but refused to answer Compromís' questions about which ministries he is prepared to allow Podemos to take charge of, stressing that the state of the talks could not be made public at present.
Predictably, the conservative parties PP and Ciudadanos and far-right Vox voted 'no', and Sánchez criticised Ciudadanos in his opening speech for having sided with Vox.
Parliamentary spokeswoman for the PSOE Adriana Lastre slammed Vox for claiming to represent the people and yet being in favour of destroying hard-won rights for the ordinary citizen, especially for minorities.
The right-wing parties still claim a vote for Sánchez would be a vote for Catalunya's independence or 'the break-up of Spain', despite this not being in the PSOE leader's plans – and Catalunya regional parties ERC and JxCat both voted Sánchez down over his unwillingness to support the secession bid.
Navarra Suma, the right-wing regional party leading the land-locked northern territory, also voted 'no' in line with its political values, and the Canarian Coalition voted against Sánchez on the basis he had not given the Canary Islands enough consideration in his budget plans.
Sánchez had mentioned at the last minute he would be prepared to give Podemos' Irene Montero – wife of its leader Pablo Iglesias – a deputy president's role, but she voted online from home and opted for a 'no', going against the rest of her party.
In total, Sánchez gained 124 'yes' votes – 123 from his own MPs, himself included, and one from the sole Cantabria Regional Party MP – against 52 who abstained and 170 who voted against.
Podemos' Ione Belarra explained at the end of the session that her party had intended, this morning, to vote 'no', but had opted to abstain instead 'as a gesture to continue facilitating negotiations' between the parties.
Belarra explained Irene Montero had voted 'no' because online responses were required before 09.00 this morning (Tuesday), so she had voted at around midnight when Podemos had not yet decided to swap its negative for an abstention.
She is currently signed off sick, as she is heavily pregnant, meaning she could not attend in person.
Ione Belarra says she 'hopes to see movements' in the cross-party negotiations before Thursday's second round.
In total, out of 350 MPs, Sánchez needed a minimum of 176 to vote 'yes', and 346 attended, since four MPs are among the Catalunya politicians still in jail for their role in organising the disputed independence referendum on October 1, 2017, and who were not able to vote.
MPs are summoned back to Parliament at 13.00 on Thursday for the second round of votes.
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PEDRO Sánchez has failed in the first round of the investiture ceremony and will now have to work hard to persuade his non-supporters to back him in round two, on Thursday.
In the first leg of a presidential investiture, a candidate needs a majority of 'yes' votes from MPs to succeed, and if this fails, a second session will require simply more 'yes' than 'no' votes.
To this end, parties not in favour of a given candidate due to clashing values, but who consider it important for a reigning government to be formed, can abstain from voting, which may help in the second round as it will cut down the number of 'no' votes and potentially lead to the number of 'yes' votes exceeding them.
Sánchez's negotiations with left-wing Podemos, which have so far not borne fruit, and the ongoing issue of Catalunya's independence bid were the main stumbling blocks to the PSOE leader's being sworn in as national president.
Podemos, left-wing regional party in Valencia, Compromís and Basque parties PNV and EH-Bildu abstained, with the latter two insisting on better financing and support for their region before they gave a 'yes' and the other two criticising the failed negotiations between the PSOE and Podemos.
Both parties said they were still open to talks aimed at forming a successful coalition, and Sánchez appears to have buried his idea of governing in a minority and has expressed his desire to reach a deal with Podemos, but refused to answer Compromís' questions about which ministries he is prepared to allow Podemos to take charge of, stressing that the state of the talks could not be made public at present.
Predictably, the conservative parties PP and Ciudadanos and far-right Vox voted 'no', and Sánchez criticised Ciudadanos in his opening speech for having sided with Vox.
Parliamentary spokeswoman for the PSOE Adriana Lastre slammed Vox for claiming to represent the people and yet being in favour of destroying hard-won rights for the ordinary citizen, especially for minorities.
The right-wing parties still claim a vote for Sánchez would be a vote for Catalunya's independence or 'the break-up of Spain', despite this not being in the PSOE leader's plans – and Catalunya regional parties ERC and JxCat both voted Sánchez down over his unwillingness to support the secession bid.
Navarra Suma, the right-wing regional party leading the land-locked northern territory, also voted 'no' in line with its political values, and the Canarian Coalition voted against Sánchez on the basis he had not given the Canary Islands enough consideration in his budget plans.
Sánchez had mentioned at the last minute he would be prepared to give Podemos' Irene Montero – wife of its leader Pablo Iglesias – a deputy president's role, but she voted online from home and opted for a 'no', going against the rest of her party.
In total, Sánchez gained 124 'yes' votes – 123 from his own MPs, himself included, and one from the sole Cantabria Regional Party MP – against 52 who abstained and 170 who voted against.
Podemos' Ione Belarra explained at the end of the session that her party had intended, this morning, to vote 'no', but had opted to abstain instead 'as a gesture to continue facilitating negotiations' between the parties.
Belarra explained Irene Montero had voted 'no' because online responses were required before 09.00 this morning (Tuesday), so she had voted at around midnight when Podemos had not yet decided to swap its negative for an abstention.
She is currently signed off sick, as she is heavily pregnant, meaning she could not attend in person.
Ione Belarra says she 'hopes to see movements' in the cross-party negotiations before Thursday's second round.
In total, out of 350 MPs, Sánchez needed a minimum of 176 to vote 'yes', and 346 attended, since four MPs are among the Catalunya politicians still in jail for their role in organising the disputed independence referendum on October 1, 2017, and who were not able to vote.
MPs are summoned back to Parliament at 13.00 on Thursday for the second round of votes.
Related Topics
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