Felipe VI proposes Pedro Sanchez as candidate for Prime Minister of Spain

USPA NEWS - King Felipe VI of Spain proposed on Wednesday the Secretary General of the Socialist Party and acting Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, as a candidate for the investiture for a new term. After two days of interviews with 18 party spokespersons represented in Parliament - all but three - the monarch communicated his decision to the president of the Congress of Deputies, Meritxell Batet, and closed the round of consultations.

Now there is a period of negotiations, because the Socialist candidate for Prime Minister does not have the necessary support to be invested. However, Spanish law does not set a deadline for the candidate proposed by the King to present himself for investiture and Pedro Sánchez has repeated insistently over the last few weeks that he will not present himself without the guarantee that he will be elected. After his meeting with the monarch on Wednesday, Sánchez advocated forming a "stable" government that gives stability to Spanish politic.

The Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC in Catalan), with which the Socialist Party is negotiating to abstain and facilitate the investiture of Pedro Sánchez, did not attend the consultations with the King. The Socialist candidate only has the support of the extreme left-wing coalition Podemos, with which he will share government, and of some deputies from regionalist parties, insufficient support to be elected. Therefore, he needs the abstention of ERC. But the Republican formation, which defends the independence of Catalonia, has warned the Socialists that they will not reach an agreement until January, after the Christmas holidays. They demand the recognition of the right to Catalan self-determination, the release from prison of their imprisoned leaders and the return of the conflict for independence to the political sphere. Today, he is in court.

When the session of investiture is held in the Spanish Parliament, the candidate proposed by the King will find himself with the vote against the conservative Popular Party and the extreme right wing Vox. The centrist Citizens could vote "no" to the socialist candidate, although its leader, Inés Arrimadas, announced on Wednesday, after meeting with the King, that his formation could abstain if it prevents the Government of Spain from depending on the Catalan pro-independence parties. Pedro Sánchez will meet next week with Arrimadas and the conservative leader Pablo Casado.

The appointment of Pedro Sánchez was the only option left to King Felipe VI, as no other candidate ran as an alternative. But the formation of government in Spain is still in the air. How negotiations between parties develop over the next few weeks will determine whether Spain closes the longest period of political instability in recent history. The alternative is a new election in 2020.