Spain's Sanchez expects 'complex talks' to form government

In an inconclusive election on July 23, the Socialists won fewer seats than the conservatives of Alberto Nunez Feijoo. Sanchez was invited by Spain's King Felipe VI to try to form a governing majority after Feijoo last week failed in his bid to become prime minister.

Spain's acting Prime Minister predicted "complex talks" with other political parties to form a government on Tuesday, after he was nominated to seek their backing for a new mandate. Pedro Sanchez said he would work on securing support not only to form a government, but also to pass legislation as a minority coalition for the rest of his second four-year term.

To win an investiture vote the Socialist leader needs support from potential coalition partners such as the hard-left Sumar, as well as several Catalan and Basque nationalist parties. If no candidate secures a majority by Nov. 27, a repeat general election has to be called.

"I am willing to work to form as soon as possible a progressive coalition government with enough support to guarantee the stability that the country needs," Sanchez said. In an inconclusive election on July 23, the Socialists won fewer seats than the conservatives of Alberto Nunez Feijoo.

Sanchez was invited by Spain's King Felipe VI to try to form a governing majority after Feijoo last week failed in his bid to become prime minister. Sanchez believes he can muster enough backing for his candidacy, which would include Catalan separatist parties Junts and Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC), which are demanding an unpopular amnesty in exchange for their votes in parliament.

While avoiding explicitly mentioning an amnesty during a press conference in Madrid, Sanchez defended as a success his 2021 decision to pardon Catalan leaders jailed over a failed independence bid in 2017. Sanchez said the crisis - which prompted the conservative government at the time to temporarily impose direct rule from Madrid - "brought nothing good".

"It was a crisis of which no one can feel proud - I wasn't leading the government then," he said. "Since then I have tried to overcome that situation." He argued that political conflicts need to be resolved "in the political field and not elsewhere", and now was the time for "politics, generosity and leadership".

"If July 23 told us anything about Spaniards, it's that you cannot lead the government of this nation without understanding the plurality of parliament and the diversity of the country." Junts and ERC last week approved a resolution saying they would not support an investiture vote unless the government committed to "creating the conditions" for a fresh referendum on Catalan independence.

Asked about a referendum, Sanchez said Catalans were looking to "turn the page" and to find a "reunion" with Spanish society. "He has drawn a red line at the referendum on self-determination," said Pablo Simon, a professor in political science at the Carlos III university in Madrid.

Feijoo, who used his own investiture bid to criticise Sanchez for contemplating an amnesty, said on Tuesday that his opponent was doing the bidding of Junts leader Carles Puigdemont and predicted "dark negotiations" in the coming weeks. "No matter what Mr Sanchez says, what is important is what Mr Puigdemont says," Feijoo said.

Sanchez said he would like to complete the talks and set a date for a vote "as soon as possible", adding that he would start talks with the main parties on Wednesday, beginning with his Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz, the head of Sumar. "I am going to put my heart and soul into a negotiation that is not going to be an easy one," he said.

House Speaker Francina Armengol said earlier that Sanchez had yet to share his proposed schedule for the investiture vote.

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