Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Spain's parliament debates no-confidence vote to oust govt

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is facing a no-confidence debate in parliament brought by the nation’s far-right Vox party

Via AP news wire
Wednesday 21 October 2020 10:07 BST
Spain Politics
Spain Politics (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is facing a no-confidence debate in parliament brought by the nation’s far-right Vox party but it appears the maneuver lacks the necessary votes to topple the government.

The parliament is hearing arguments for and against the motion on Wednesday before a vote scheduled for Thursday. Vox argues that Sánchez’s government must depart for what the party says is the poor handling of the pandemic by authorities.

If the no-confidence vote were to succeed, it would replace the current left-wing coalition government with one led by Vox leader Santiago Abascal

The leading opposition party, the conservative Popular Party however, has already said it won't back Vox. Without the Popular Party's votes, the motion has no chance.

“With victims, outbreaks and infections, the truth is that this no-confidence motion is a waste of time,” Popular Party secretary-general Teodoro García Egea said before the start of the debate.

Many observers of Spanish politics consider the no-confidence vote as a way for the upstart Vox to put more pressure on the Popular Party. The Popular Party has been very critical of Sánchez, but Vox’s rise in recent years has come at the expense of the Spain’s traditional right-wing force. Now it must choose between one adversary or the other.

Spain is set to become the first country in Western Europe to reach 1 million reported infections of the virus. The country has confirmed more than 34,000 deaths from COVID-19, but experts say the true death toll has likely been impossible to record because of a shortage of tests in the first weeks of the health crisis.

“Sánchez’s government is the worst in the world that has faced the coronavirus,” Abascal told the parliament’s lower house. He said that the current government is the “worst in 80 years of (Spanish) history” signaling his preference for the dictatorship of Gen. Francisco Franco that ruled from the end of the Spanish Civil War in 1939 to after his death in 1975.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in