Spain heads for new elections after talks with King end in failure

Spain looks destined to hold a new general election on June 26 after the third round of talks between King Felipe VI and the leaders of the country's political parties to try and find an agreement that would lead to a coalition government ended in failure on Tuesday.

There was a glimmer of hope that an agreement could be reached when the left wing party "Compromis" offered a pact with the Spanish Socialist party and the Socialists talked of a coalition including "independents," but that hope soon evaporated.

Socialist (PSOE) Leader Pedro Sanchez, who tried and failed to win two investiture votes in early March, told the press after his meeting that "Spain was heading for elections," while blaming acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias for the political stalemate which has left Spain with a hung parliament since the last election on Dec. 20.

People's Party leader Rajoy meanwhile rejected the chance to present his candidacy for a third time. The acting prime minister said he did not have enough support in the 350-seat Congress and blamed the Socialists for rejecting a "grand coalition" with himself as prime minister, which he told the press was the "best proposal for Spain."

Meanwhile Iglesias criticized Sanchez for turning down Compromis' (a party with close links to Podemos) offer, insisting Podemos has offered the Socialists a "coalition government for progress... We are going to continue working for this and offer our hand to the PSOE," he said.

Finally Albert Rivera, the leader of center-right group Citizens, who do have a pact with the PSOE, rejected the Socialists' idea of a government with "Podemos and pro-independence parties."

"I have seen that six parties are going to govern Spain for four years and that is not reasonable," he concluded.

Any coalition now looks virtually impossible and new election for June 26 will be made official at midnight on May 2.

Source: XINHUA