Ballot Opens In Sanchez's Party On Approving Deal w/Catalan Separatists

Acting PM Pedro Sanchez's Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and its Catalan sister party the PSC is holding a ballot of its 172,600 members to gain approval for a deal reached with the leftist Sumar and pro-independence parties in Catalonia and the Basque Country. Should members approve the deal, Sanchez would gain the requisite support to win an investiture vote in the Congress of Deputies and remain in power.

• Voting opens today, with electronic ballots closing at 1200CET on 3 Nov, and in-person voting ending at 2000CET on 4 November. The results of the ballot will be announced on Sunday 5 November.
• The deal would see an amnesty for those convicted in relation to the illegal Catalan independence referendum in 2017. Prior to this year's election the PSOE and Sanchez had rejected such a move, but the acting PM now states that an amnesty is "in the name of Spain, in the interest of Spain and in defense of coexistence between Spaniards”, and is “the correct path”.
• The decision remains a coin toss, with many PSOE members keen to ensure no snap election - which could usher in a right-wing PP-Vox gov't - while others are opposed to an amnesty, arguing that it is the first step towards a legalised independence referendum.