The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, regained strength on Thursday, November 16 through Parliament for a new four-year mandate at the head of Spain.
The Socialist won the confidence of an absolute majority of 179 deputies, thanks in particular to the seven votes of Catalan independence leader Carles Puigdemont, in exchange for an amnesty measure that deeply divides the country.
In force since 2018, the socialist obtained the votes of 179 deputies after two days of tense debates, a figure higher than the absolute majority set at 176.
This vote of confidence ends almost four months of stalemate since the July 23 general election and will allow Sánchez Sánchez to form a new government with his allies from the far-left Sumar coalition.
The Prime Minister, who was trailing in the July elections against his conservative rival Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has had to negotiate in recent weeks the aid for his re-election from several regionalist groups, whose votes are very important in a very fragmented Parliament.
In particular, he had to convince Catalan separatist Carles Puigdemont, the leader of Catalonia’s 2017 secession attempt, who fled to Belgium six years ago to escape legal proceedings against him.
After agreeing to intense negotiations, Puigdemont received in exchange for the votes of his party’s seven deputies the approval of an amnesty law for numerous separatists persecuted by the courts. A measure that will allow him to leave back to Spain.