Spain's PM investiture debate to begin July 22 - parliament speaker

Spain's parliament will begin the process to vote on whether to renew Pedro Sanchez, whose Socialists won a national election in April without a majority, as prime minister for the next four years on July 22, speaker Meritxell Batet said on Tuesday. The first vote is expected to be held after the debate on July 23.

Members of parliament must deliver Sanchez an absolute majority in the fragmented 350-seat house for him to win the position in the first round of votes. If the acting premier, who first came to power a year ago after ousting his conservative predecessor in a no-confidence vote, does not achieve that, as is widely expected, he will require a simple majority in the second round of voting, to be held within 48 hours of the first ballot.

A second failure would trigger a countdown until mid-September for Sanchez to attempt other votes in the lower house before being forced to call a new national election.