Spain's King Asks Acting Prime Minister Sanchez To Form Next Gov't - Parliament's Speaker

Spain's King Felipe VI has invited acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to form the next government after two days of consultations with leaders of the parties represented in the national legislature, Meritxell Batet, the parliamentary speaker, said at a press conference

MADRID (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th December, 2019) Spain's King Felipe VI has invited acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to form the next government after two days of consultations with leaders of the parties represented in the national legislature, Meritxell Batet, the parliamentary speaker, said at a press conference.

"After the consultations with representatives of political parties that are represented in the parliament and wanted to attend the meeting, under the constitution, His Majesty the King informed me of his decision to nominate Pedro Sanchez as a candidate for prime minister," Batet told reporters on Wednesday.

The parliament is now set to vote on whether to approve the king's appointment of Sanchez.

During a press conference, Sanchez said that he accepted King Felipe's invitation and pledged to form a "progressive coalition government."

"We need a government to be formed as soon as possible ... they [the Spanish people] demand stability, confidence .

.. A third [snap] election [this year] cannot be held in our country, we need stability," the acting minister said.

On November 10, Spain held its fourth general election in four years and its second this year. While Sanchez's Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) secured 120 seats in the lower house, it was not enough to gain a majority, even combined with the 35 seats won by its coalition partner, Podemos.

Now, the fate of the future government depends on the talks between the PSOE and the Republican Left of Catalan, which won 13 seats in the lower house. The first round of talks failed after the latter demanded that negotiations be held with Catalonia at the ministerial level without any limitations on the agenda, and that they include discussions on an independence vote and amnesty for jailed separatist leaders. After three rounds of talks, the parties have still not reached an agreement.