Rajoy accepts King Felipe's invitation to try to form a new government

2016-09-04 09:00:00

Mariano Rajoy, leader of the Partido Popular (PP), has accepted King Felipe VI’s invitation to try to gather support to form a government in next week’s investiture debate in parliament. The PP gained the highest number of seats in Congreso after June’s general election.
As no party has an overall majority, it is the king’s constitutional duty to meet each of the country’s party leaders to seek their views on how a government can be formed. This the king began last week, closing the round of discussions on Thursday with the four main party leaders. It’s a sight that Spaniards have become used to since the last general election in December also involved three rounds of meetings.
With no party moving position over the last few days, (only Ciudadanos has said it will abstain in a second investiture vote to facilitate a PPgovernment and “get Spain moving again”), talk has increasingly turned to a third general election if Rajoy cannot get enough support.
On meeting the king on Thursday, Podemos leader, Pablo Iglesias reiterated his desire to see his party and the PSOE form a left-wing coalition, but also repeated that it was unlikely. Ciudadanos, under Albert Rivera, said he wished to see all parties abstaining to enable Rajoy to form a minority government. Pedro Sánchez of the PSOE, in turn, wouldn’t say if he would abstain in the vote, but committed to finding a solution. Spaniards now wait to see what Rajoy will achieve next week.source surinenglish