Spanish parliament holds crucial vote that could pave way for another leftist government

Spain’s newly elected Parliament meets on Thursday to choose the chamber’s speaker and presiding council in votes that could indicate the potential future color of the next government

Spain’s newly elected Parliament meets Thursday to choose the chamber’s speaker and presiding council, a normally routine vote but which this time will be read as a bellwether of a future government.

Inconclusive national elections on July 23 left no party with an easy path to cobble together the support needed to lead a government. Parties on the left and right of the spectrum are delicately poised in the fight for power.

Acting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez appears to have a slight edge over his conservative and rightwing rivals, but nothing is guaranteed and a new election in the coming months is still a real possibility.

Thursday’s council vote by the 350 new lawmakers could therefore indicate whether Sánchez’s Socialists are making headway in building support among smaller parties. These include separatist parties in Catalonia that appear likely to decide both the speaker’s vote and the future session to elect a prime minister.

Sánchez’s Socialists, the left-wing Sumar (Joining Forces) and four smaller parties can total 171 seats. But the conservative Popular Party, which received the greatest number of votes in the election last month, the far-right Vox party, and one smaller party can also muster the same 171 seats. To get an absolute majority, 176 votes are needed.

That means that the seven members of Junts (Together), a radical Catalan separatist party led by fugitive politician Carles Puigdemont, who is exiled in Brussels, could be in prime position to determine the course of Spain’s politics for the next four years.

If Sánchez and his supporting parties get control of the council Thursday, either if Junts abstains or votes in favor, the Socialist leader might be able to count on that same support to remain premier. But it would be a constant cliff-hanger of a legislature.

Puigdemont´s views are politically toxic for most Spaniards.

The former leader of the northeastern region of Catalonia, who fled Spain following a failed 2017 independence bid, wants Spain’s incoming government to guarantee it will help hundreds of separatists facing legal problems for their part in his breakaway bid.

He also wants Madrid to authorize a referendum on independence Catalonia.

The referendum is a non-starter for Sánchez and his conservative rivals. Sánchez, however, has pardoned high-profile separatists and reformed laws to give some legal relief to separatists as part of his agenda to lower tensions in Catalonia.

“The critical points of our position have not varied,” Puigdemont said Wednesday, adding that he wanted to see guarantees from the Socialists before announcing his party’s position.

The legislators begin taking their seats at 10 a.m. (0800 GMT) and a vote result by expected early afternoon.

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Joseph Wilson reported and David Brunat contributed to this report from Barcelona.