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Spain's Feijoo fails in last bid to form government

September 29, 2023

Spain's conservative leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo has narrowly lost a second and final vote in parliament that would have authorized him to try to form a government. Outgoing PM Pedro Sanchez will get the next chance.

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Close-up of Alberto Nunez Feijoo, touching his face, in Spain's parliament. September 29, 2023.
Feijoo even said before the vote that he did not anticipate victoryImage: Eduardo Parra/EUROPA PRESS/dpa/picture alliance

The leader of Spain's center-right Popular Party (PP), Alberto Nunez Feijoo, fell just short on Friday in his second attempt to secure parliament's backing to try to set up a government. 

In all, 177 lawmakers voted against Feijoo's bid and 172 in favor, with one invalid vote. The tally was similar to his first attempt earlier this week. 

Feijoo even anticipated his own defeat while addressing the chamber before the vote. 

"I assume that, predictably, I won't get it. You can call it failure if you want," Feijoo said. "Today, I won't be able to give you a government, but I have given you assurance and hope."

Spain's Popular Party leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo, foreground and right, is applauded by party members at the Spanish parliament's lower house in Madrid, Spain on Friday, Sept. 29, 2023.
Feijoo was himself pessimistic ahead of the vote, expecting a similar narrow defeat to the one he suffered on WednesdayImage: Bernat Armangue/AP/picture alliance

Feijoo had hoped to set up a government led by his PP with backing from the populist right-wing Vox party — but these two groups alone do not command a majority and the right-wing bid did not find enough additional support elsewhere.

What happens now? 

A broadly split vote in July this year, with 11 different parties winning seats, has made it difficult for anybody in Spain's parliament to command majority backing as prime minsiter — new elections appear increasingly probable. 

Before that, though, outgoing caretaker Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez could also try to win majority backing in an identical vote. Sanchez's Socialist Workers' Party was the second largest in July's elections, after Feijoo's, explaining why he's second in line to seek the chamber's blessing.

Pedro Sanchez in Spain's parliament, turning to look directly at a photographer, September 29, 2023.
Sanchez, prime minister before the elections, is staying in the role temporarily as the deadlock is resolved Image: Alberto Ortega/EUROPA PRESS/dpa/picture alliance

For that, he will likely need support from a hardline Catalan separatist party that's found itself in the role of potential kingmaker. It's not clear whether Sanchez can secure this, or at what cost. 

Later on Friday, Spain's King Felipe VI issued a statement saying he had invited political parties to convene for talks with a view to potentially forming a government, on October 2 and 3.

Many analysts consider repeat elections, probably in January, as the most likely scenario at this point. 

msh/jcg (AFP, dpa, Reuters)