The bid for a second term in power by Spain’s acting prime minister was rejected by the country’s parliament on Wednesday.
The first confidence vote in parliament, as mandated by the constitution, resulted in 189 votes against Mariano Rajoy’s candidature and 170 in favour.
As it was, he received the backing of his own party, centrist Ciudadanos and a single MP from the Canary Islands.
The country’s second general election at the end of June delivered his Popular Party more seats than had the first election, but still insufficient for a majority. The PP needed an absolute majority of 176 seats in parliament out of the 350 in order to form a government.
None of the other parties with enough seats to form a ruling coalition would join forces with Rajoy despite months of talks.
The second confidence vote in parliament is scheduled for Friday. For this vote, Rajoy needs garner only a simple majority of votes in parliament.
If this is forthcoming, he will be able to become a fully fledged prime minister rather than the caretaker one he has been since last December. In his current position, he has limited power and is not able to propose legislation, commission infrastructure projects or create a national budget. The country’s budget for 2017 should be ready by mid-October according to EU regulations.
Should the confidence vote again fail, or if there is no breakthrough, than Spain could well be on course for a third general election.
Electoral law determines the timing of such events and in this case the election should be scheduled for 25 December. Some political parties are proposing that the date be brought forward to 18 December.
Many pundits predict that a third round of elections will prove to be the case, given the entrenched positions of the four parties which have won the most votes.
The Socialists, Rajoy’s traditional key rival, have refused to support Rajoy, telling parliament that he “has no credibility”. Rajoy struck back accusing the Socialists of “stubbornly wanting new elections”.
"It is hard to think of anything that could cause more damage to Spanish democracy than telling citizens that their vote has been useless on two occasions and that a general election needs to be held for a third time," he said.
Both the Popular Party and the Socialists have weathered many corruption scandals involving power and money which could have helped rather than hindered the economy and the people.
Sick of scandals and of austerity measures, a number of voters turned to new political parties, particularly Podemos and Ciudadanos. The resulting four-way split has now paralysed the formation of a government and the country’s political crisis is deepening.
The economy’s robust recovery has been blind to the stalemate, but signs are emerging that an impact is beginning.
