MADRID (AP) 鈥 The leader of Spain鈥檚 conservatives is trying to convince lawmakers on Tuesday to let him form the country鈥檚 new government, a green light he is not expected to get during two rounds of voting in the Spanish parliament later this week.
Spain's gave the most seats in the parliament's 350-member lower chamber but well shy of an absolute majority, setting the stage for a difficult path to power.
Under the Spanish Constitution, two investiture votes will determine whether Feij贸o has authorization to form a government 鈥 likely a coalition with the far-right Vox party. He needs approval from a simple majority of 176 lawmakers in the first vote, which is scheduled for Wednesday after hours of debate.
If he misses that mark, the bar would be lowered for the second round, in which he would need only more 鈥測es鈥 than 鈥渘o鈥 votes. Abstentions could sway the result in that situation. The second vote is set for Friday.
The Popular Party holds 137 seats in the Congress of the Deputies, the most of any party. But even with backing from Vox's 33 lawmakers and two from small conservative parties representing Navarra and the Canary Islands, Feij贸o is still four votes short.
If he fails to win approval, would get a shot at staying in the Moncloa Palace. The center-left Socialist leader would have to round up enough support of lawmakers from a group of competing leftist, regionalist and even separatist parties.
In exchange for their support, separatist parties from northeastern Spain's Catalonia region are demanding an amnesty for possibly thousands of people involved in a failed 2017 secession bid and protests against the Spanish government's resulting crackdown. S谩nchez also needs to woo rival parties from Basque Country.
Feij贸o, 62, is trying to use opposition to the possible Catalan amnesty to . He started his speech to lawmakers Tuesday by accusing S谩nchez of being willing to bend to the demands of the separatists, who include fugitives such as former Catalonia region leader who fled the country six years ago.
鈥淚 have within my reach the votes that I need to become prime minister,鈥 Feij贸o said to laughs from some of his left-wing rivals. 鈥淏ut I am not ready to accept the price I was asked to pay for them.鈥
A failure by Feij贸o to form a government would automatically start a two-month period in which S谩nchez could try to form a new government. If he also fails, parliament would be dissolved on Nov. 27 and a new election would be called for Jan. 14.
___
Joseph Wilson reported from Barcelona.
