ARCHIVED - Spain at last has its first coalition government since 1939

The PSOE and Unidas Podemos win the investiture debate by the narrowest of margins

After two general elections in 2019 and eight months of inter-party negotiations Pedro Sánchez of the PSOE socialist party was finally voted in as President of the next Spanish government on Tuesday 7th January, following a stormy investiture debate and one of the closest votes of its kind in Congress since the restoration of democracy after the death of General Franco.

Sr Sánchez will lead a coalition government in which various top posts will be held by members of the Unidas Podemos party, whose leader Pablo Iglesias will be vice-president. This is the first coalition government in Spain since the end of the Civil War in 1939, and its fragility is reflected in the nature of the voting on Friday: the “ayes” outnumbered the “nays” by just 167 to 165, including the support of MPs representing not only the PSOE and Unidas Podemos but also the Basque regionalists of PNV, Más País, Compromís, the Galician nationalists of BNG and the sole representatives of the regional Teruel Existe and Nueva Canarias groups.

Voting against Pedro Sánchez were the PP, Vox, Ciudadanos, Junts per Catalunya, CUP, Navarra Suma, Coalición Canaria, Partido Regionalista de Cantabria and Foro Asturias, with his investiture being made possible only by the highly controversial abstentions of the Basque and Catalan republican parties EH Bildu and ERC.

The tension was palpable in the chamber as after three days of emotionally charged debate in which the parties now in opposition were fiercely critical of the new Prime Minister, at times resorting to undisguised insults, the votes were cast. MPs including Tomás Guitarte of Teruel Existe have been subjected to extreme pressure to change their voting intention as anti-PSOE campaigners fought for the one change of mind which would have resulted in a tie, and in the end the relief of the successful candidates was so great that Pablo Iglesias was seen to be wiping a tear from his eye.

Sr Iglesias also handed a bunch of flowers to the Unidas Podemos MP Aina Vidal, who had missed the first round of voting due to her suffering from cancer but was able to attend the vote on Tuesday. Sra Vidal received a standing ovation from all members of Congress except the 52 Vox MPs.

This added a note of dignity to proceedings which at times had threatened to get out of hand, particularly when ERC representative Montserrat Bassa admitted that although she would be abstaining she “couldn’t care less about the governability of Spain”. Members of the far-right wing party Vox made a point of leaving the chamber during the intervention of Oskar Matute of EH Bildu, and for as long as the new government lasts similar scenes of tension are likely to be repeated in parliament as Vox refuses to accept any government whose formation has been aided by those whom they see as threats to the unity of Spain.

But as of Tuesday afternoon Spain at last has another national government, and although the honeymoon may be a very short one indeed those who have formed the alliance between the PSOE and Unidas Podemos can congratulate themselves on a mission accomplished.

Images: Pedro Sánchez and Pablo Iglesias in Congress on Tuesday

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