Spanish conservative leader and the head of the Popular Party, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, lost his first bid to become the country's prime minister when he failed to acquire 176 votes.
The development comes after Feijoo's conservative party won the most seats in the July 2023 general election. However, the official has struggled with forming a coalition to form a government as he opposes giving concessions to separatist parties.
Spanish Prime Minister Vote
Additionally, the conservative leader failed to convince enough lawmakers to support him to win an absolute majority despite several hours of debate that started on Tuesday before the first round of voting on Wednesday.
In a statement to lawmakers, Feijoo said nobody knows what will happen to the country if his bid to become prime minister fails. He added that that means, given the nation is a democracy that the government does not hide its deals. He said that they do not even want to talk about them, as per DW News.
The conservative leader got 172 votes in his favor with 178 against in the 350-seat parliament. Feijoo will have another chance with a second vote scheduled on Friday. Still, there have been reports that this was an "impossible candidacy," noting that he stood little chance of being chosen as prime minister by lawmakers so that he could lead the nation.
The Popular Party currently holds 137 seats and has the support of the far-right Vox's 33 lawmakers and two more from smaller conservative parties that represent Navarra and the Canary Islands.
Feijoo's road to power was further complicated by his party's alliance with Vox, which denies climate change and rails against feminism. The latter wants to maintain territorial integrity and recentralize power in the face of separatist movements.
Amnesty of Catalan Separatists
Spanish King Felipe VI first allowed Feijoo to form a government in August. Should he fail his second try, the current acting prime minister and Spanish Socialist Workers' Party leader, Pedro Sanchez, has two months to undergo a similar two-vote process in a bid for investiture before parliament dissolves on Nov. 27 and elections begin on Jan. 14, according to CNBC.
Feijoo's Popular Party received a series of support recently, including at least 40,000 people who took to the streets to protest Sanchez's potential plans to extend amnesty to Catalan separatists.
The possible pardon could bring the support of self-exiled former Catalonia leader Carles Puigdemont's Junts per Catalunya. He was pursued in the country after his failed secession attempt six years ago.
On Sept. 5, Puigdemont called to "eliminate every judiciary action against the independence of Catalonia. A spokesperson for the Republican Left of Catalonia, Raquel Sans, on Monday urged Sanchez to address the substance of the political conflict between Madrid and Catalonia.
While Sanchez has not given a formal statement regarding his stance on a potential amnesty for Catalan separatists, he has said that he wants to continue normalization of relations with the northeast region. It is where tensions have decreased in recent years, said the Associated Press.
