Spain’s socialist party reached a last minute deal with the Catalan pro-independence party Thursday morning regarding control of the Spanish parliament’s main administrative body.
The deal makes a repeat election less likely and provides a boost for Socialist leader, pedro Sanchez.
The Spanish Socialist party’s control of La mesa Del Congreso came after it secured a deal with the Catalan party, Junts in exchange for the promotion of the Catalan language in the Spanish parliament and the creation of a special committee tasked with investigating surveillance of Catalan independence supporters.
The Mesa Del Congreso is an important body. It approves the creation of parliamentary groups, authorises investigative commissions and ultimately determines which bills are taken up by MPs.
On Thursday morning, the Catalan pro independence party Junts gave its votes to the Socialist candidate Francina Armengol.
But the Catalans say today’s agreement is only to support Armengol’s presidency not the Congreso, not Sanchez’s bid to remain PM.
However, with the deal leaving the Partido Popular out in the cold today, it could also indicate that Pedro Sanchez is the figure most likely to garner enough support to form a government.
The next hurdle to forming a government will come in the following days, when the Spanish King will begin consultations with the different parties to see who has the best chance to form a government.