King Felipe VI of Spain asks Socialist Party leader Pedro Sánchez to form a new government.
Source: The Spain Report
The Speaker of the Spanish Congress, Patxi López, announced at 8:10 p.m. local time that King Felipe VI had asked Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) leader Pedro Sánchez to form a new government.
Pedro Sánchez thanked the King, and said that Mariano Rajoy's capacity to negotiate with other parties had been "non existent." Rajoy announced after his second meeting with the monarch on Tuesday evening that the King "has not asked me to form a government" and that "I do not have the necessary support."
Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias declared that "what is breaking Spain is giving breathing space to the PP and its partner, Ciudadanos."
The leader of the centrist Ciudadanos, Albert Rivera, said it was "good news" and that his party was ready to negotiate. "I regret that Rajoy declined at the time to do the confidence vote," Rivera said. "He has thrown in the towel."
If Sánchez's PSOE are unable to form a government, the clock towards a new general election will being its two-month countdown once the first confidence debate and vote have taken place.
Read more: https://www.thespainreport.com/articles/609-160202200800-king-asks-socialist-party-leader-pedro-sanchez-to-form-a-new-spanish-government
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