King to meet party leaders as Spain edges closer to form government

MADRID - King Felipe VI of Spain on Monday starts a brief round of talks with the leaders of the country's political parties, as the country appears to move towards the formation of a new government.

The talks come a day after the Federal Committee of the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) voted to abstain in a future investiture vote to allow People's Party leader, Mariano Rajoy to form a minority government.

The King's talks are designed to see if Rajoy has the necessary support to form a government. After meeting Rajoy on Tuesday afternoon, Felipe will meet with the Speaker of the Congress Ana Pastor to propose Rajoy as the candidate to be the next Prime Minister of Spain. Pastor will then set a date for an investiture debate in congress.

The process is complicated by the requirements of the Spanish Constitution, which states that in order to become Prime Minister,Rajoy has to win an overall majority in the first investiture vote.

According to the PSOE resolution on Sunday, they will vote against Rajoy in the first investiture debate, Rajoy will fail to win that overall majority in the first vote.

The Constitution then states Rajoy needs just a simple majority in a second investiture vote held 48 hours later. It is in this vote that the PSOE will abstain and the 137 seats of the PP added to 32 of center-right party Ciudadanos will be enough to allow Rajoy to become the leader of a minority government.

The Constitution also imposes a timescale on events and the second vote has to be concluded on October 31, otherwise congress will be dissolved and new elections called.

That means Ana Pastor is likely to call the first investiture vote for October 28 or 29, with the second and decisive vote two days later.