Feijóo To Face Second Investiture Vote With Sanchez Waiting In Wings

Head of the centre-right People's Party (PP) Alberto Núñez Feijóo faces a second investiture vote in the Congress of Deputies today following his failure to receive the requisite support on 27 September. In this vote a simple majority rather than an absolute majority of the 350 deputies is needed. However, the vote is likely to lead to a repeat of the 172-178 vote recorded on Wednesday. After this, acting PM Pedro Sanchez from the centre-left Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) is set to seek the King's permission to form a gov't, setting up the stage for his own investiture vote.

• In order to win enough support Sanchez will need the support of nearly all leftist and regionalist deputies, including those of the hardline separatist Together for Catalonia (Junts).
• Earlier in the Catalan Parliament, Junts and the left-wing separatist Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) secured the advancement of a motion that calls for ERC and Junts deputies in the Congress of Deputies not to vote for Sanchez's investiture without a commitment to progress towards an independence referendum during the next parliament.
• An independence referendum is a red line for many in Sanchez's PSOE, highlighting the difficult path the acting PM will have to tread if he is to gain another term in office.