Spain held its most recent parliamentary election in April. The Partido Socialista Obrero Espano, or Spanish Socialist Worker's Party, took the most seats. But it was well short of a majority.
The PSOE, led by incumbent Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, hoped to form a coalition government. Of the nine largest parties in parliament, three are right-of-center and four support separatism. That left the PSOE with one likely partner - Unidas Podemos, or United We Can. Then at least one more party would have to agree to join the coalition. And some small parties did signal their willingness to do so.
But negotiations with the far-left party have not gone well.
Sanchez has lost two votes of confidence
Sanchez and the PSOE recently lost a second vote of confidence in parliament. In effect, a government has still not formed in Spain, nearly three full months after the election. The main reason for this is the lack of a coalition partner.
The PSOE and Podemos had been trying to negotiate a deal. The Local reports that some agreements were made. Podemos was to receive the post of deputy prime minister and take over policies regarding issues such as health. Pablo Iglesias Turrion, leader of Podemos, had ruled himself out of taking one of the ministerial posts.
But too many differences remained.
Podemos also wanted control of scientific and labor policies. The PSOE was reportedly only willing to party with posts overseeing equality and housing.
But, as the BBC indicates, the biggest difference might be the contrasting views on Catalonia. Many in Catalonia want the region to be an independent country from Spain. Podemos supports the idea of an independence referendum, while the PSOE does not.
Another election could be coming
Sanchez and the PSOE have two more months to form a government. If they continue to fail, a new election is in order.
A coalition may not be totally unachievable, whether with Podemos or another party. Sanchez has stated his willingness to begin negotiating with other parties. But that seems like a long-shot at this point.
There are only two are parties that have enough seats for the PSOE to form a two-part coalition with. The Partido Popular, or the People's Party, is one. Cuidadanos, or Citizens, is the other. Both are conservative with several fundamental policy differences from the PSOE. Several parties following are also either right-of-center or promote a platform of separatism. Be it Catalonian, Basque or Canarian.
Some of these parties might agree to a coalition. In fact, some of them agreed to join a PSOE-Podemos coalition. But it would be difficult to string enough of them together to reach a majority of seats in parliament.
