Tomorrow, a no-confidence vote could be held in the Spanish Parliament. The present situation is such that it appears that the sitting Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, could end up losing that vote, as the socialist contender, Pedro Sanchez, is already staring down the barrel of an absolute majority in backing from the members of the parliament. The absolute majority victory of 176 votes would allow Sanchez to immediately assume power, while he is presently expected to see better results than that.
Should Rajoy lose this vote, as is expected, then he would become the first Spanish Prime Minister to lose a no-confidence vote. With two pro-independence parties supporting Sanchez, his victory in the parliamentary vote would put him in a position to be able to conduct constructive dialogue with the Catalonian secessionists. Between the Catalonian secession movement and the economic crisis that has gripped the Southern European nation, Rajoy’s record of failure to bring a viable solution to these issues has brought a lack of confidence in his leadership abilities, not less than issues of corruption.
AFP reports:
The Basque Nationalist Party will vote against Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in a no-confidence motion, Cadena Ser radio and La Sexta television said on Thursday, in a move that would almost certainly force him from office.
Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez needs an absolute majority of 176 votes to become Spain’s new Prime Minister, and information from various parties suggested he had now secured 180.
Rajoy’s departure would trigger a second political crisis in southern Europe, further unnerving financial markets already wrongfooted by failed attempts to form a government in Italy three months after a national election.
It was not clear if Rajoy could resign before the vote takes place on Friday to avoid the humiliation of becoming the first Spanish Prime Minister to lose a no-confidence vote. Rajoy did not attend the afternoon session of the debate on Thursday.
If he did, the motion would automatically become groundless and the government of the People’s Party would go into caretaker mode until a new prime minister is sworn in, something which could take several weeks or months.
If the vote did go ahead and Rajoy lost it, then Sanchez would immediately become Prime Minister.
This change of government in yet another Southern European nation is taking place almost simultaneously with the changes that are occurring in Italy, where, after three months, a Prime Minister has managed to take office with his delegation of ministers to head the country’s government. Earlier in the week, the sitting President vetoed the incoming Prime Minister’s ministerial lineup, largely over the nominated Minister of Finance, who was of a disposition hostile to the Eurozone and the common currency, thereby stoking fears that Italy could exit the common currency under such a government. Today, however, Giuseppe Conte successfully brought his revamped line up to their posts, ending months of uncertainty surrounding the political position of Italy and its participation in the bloc.
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