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| Spain: Rajoy turns down offer to form new government | Spain: Rajoy turns down offer to form new government |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| MADRID — Spain’s incumbent conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy turned down an offer Friday by King Felipe VI to try to form a new government following last month’s inconclusive elections, the Royal Palace said. | MADRID — Spain’s incumbent conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy turned down an offer Friday by King Felipe VI to try to form a new government following last month’s inconclusive elections, the Royal Palace said. |
| The palace announced the decision shortly after the monarch met with Rajoy to wrap up a week of talks with party leaders before nominating a candidate. | The palace announced the decision shortly after the monarch met with Rajoy to wrap up a week of talks with party leaders before nominating a candidate. |
| In a statement, the palace said the king will begin fresh talks with party leaders next Wednesday in a bid to find another candidate. | In a statement, the palace said the king will begin fresh talks with party leaders next Wednesday in a bid to find another candidate. |
| Rajoy’s Popular Party won most seats — 123 — in the Dec. 20 election but failed to garner a majority in the 350-seat lower house of Parliament. | Rajoy’s Popular Party won most seats — 123 — in the Dec. 20 election but failed to garner a majority in the 350-seat lower house of Parliament. |
| The king will now most likely call on opposition Socialist party leader Pedro Sanchez to try to from a government. The Socialists came second in the election with 90 seats and appear to have more chances of mustering support from other groups in Parliament to form a coalition. | The king will now most likely call on opposition Socialist party leader Pedro Sanchez to try to from a government. The Socialists came second in the election with 90 seats and appear to have more chances of mustering support from other groups in Parliament to form a coalition. |
| The nominated candidate must win a vote of confidence in Parliament. If no party leader manages to win Parliament support within two months of the first vote, fresh elections must be called. | The nominated candidate must win a vote of confidence in Parliament. If no party leader manages to win Parliament support within two months of the first vote, fresh elections must be called. |
| No group had expressed any intention of voting for Rajoy, which made parliamentary approval for him highly unlikely. | No group had expressed any intention of voting for Rajoy, which made parliamentary approval for him highly unlikely. |
| Earlier Friday, Sanchez welcomed an offer by the radical leftist Podemos group to form a coalition government, but insisted that Rajoy should have a first shot. | |
| Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias said he wants the Socialists, Podemos and the smaller United Left to build a “government of change,” with Cabinet positions allotted in accordance with the results of last December’s election. Iglesias suggested he could be deputy prime minister in a Sanchez-led government. | |
| Newcomer Podemos and its allies came third in the election with 69 seats while the Socialists got 90. The United Left has two. | |
| Negotiations between the parties to form alliances have so far come to nothing. | |
| “We have decided to seize the initiative and take a step forward,” Iglesias told reporters after meeting the king. “There is no more time for hesitation. Either you’re for change or for stagnation and impasse.” | |
| Rajoy’s popularity has plunged over the past four years in government chiefly because of party-linked corruption scandals, unpopular laws and austerity measures brought in to help get Spain out of a severe economic crisis. | |
| The December election produced Spain’s most fragmented Parliament in decades and ended the alternating grip on power the Popular Party and Socialists have had. The emergence of new parties such as Podemos and the center-right Ciudadanos group, which got 40 seats, was interpreted as a sign that Spaniards wanted change. | |
| ___ | ___ |
| Hatton contributed from Lisbon, Portugal. | Hatton contributed from Lisbon, Portugal. |
| Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |