MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s leftist Sumar party on Wednesday asked for social policies such as reducing working hours, improving wages and boosting affordable housing in exchange for backing Socialist Pedro Sanchez’s bid to secure another mandate as prime minister.
Acting Premier Sanchez and Sumar leader Yolanda Diaz – who is also acting labour minister in the Socialist-led caretaker government – kicked off what Sanchez described as “complex” talks to renew his term.
Sanchez was nominated by Spain’s King Felipe on Tuesday to try to cobble together a governing majority after conservative Alberto Nunez Feijoo’s efforts to become prime minister failed last week.
To win an investiture vote, the Socialist Party (PSOE) leader needs support from several potential coalition partners such as Sumar and some Catalan and Basque nationalist parties.
“The only scenario we envisage is a new coalition government agreement,” Sumar spokesperson Nacho Alvarez told reporters after the meeting. “But not just any agreement will do, it has to be ambitious.”
Alvarez said there were still differences over the “social and work-related dimensions”, including fewer working hours, promoting families’ work-life balance with paid leave, and better access to affordable housing, among others.
PSOE spokesperson Pilar Alegria described the meeting as “positive” and said the aim was to strike a “progressive” coalition deal in October.
Sanchez’s negotiations with other parties are expected to continue next week, as he is set to attend a two-day EU summit in Granada starting on Thursday.
No date has been set for the investiture vote, though Sanchez said he would like to complete the talks and set a date “as soon as possible”.
Jaume Asens, who leads Sumar’s negotiations with Catalan parties, told broadcaster TV3 on Wednesday he expected the investiture to take place in the first two weeks of November.
If no candidate secures a majority by Nov. 27, a repeat general election has to be called.
(Reporting by Emma Pinedo; Editing by David Latona and Alex Richardson)
