• March 3rd vote requires absolute majority, 2nd-round just simple majority •
As Spain’s Socialist party (PSOE) struggled Monday to come to grips with difficult demands presented by anti-austerity party Podemos in exchange for its support, Congress Speaker Patxi López confirmed PSOE leader Pedro Sánchez will submit his candidacy to lead the next government to the first debate on March 2nd, with a first-round vote on March 3rd and a second vote requiring only simple majority approval no later than March 5th.
Meanwhile, PSOE negotiators continue talks with other parties aimed at signing a consensus agreement to form a coalition government, which the PSOE says it will submit for approval to 195,0000 party members in a vote next week, prior to ratification by the Socialists’ federal committee by March 1st.
The ongoing negotiations include PSOE meetings with left-of-center Izquierda Unida (United Left) and Valencia’s Compromís coalition, as well as centre-right party Ciudadanos, prompting Podemos party leader Pablo Iglesias Monday to threaten to vote in March along with the conservative Popular Party (PP) against a PSOE-led coalition involving Ciudadanos.
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