Spain's new Prime Minister and Socialist party (PSOE) leader Pedro Sanchez during swearing in ceremony in Madrid. PPE/Press Association. All rights reserved.
The Spanish Parliament has ousted prime minister Mariano Rajoy, who will be replaced by socialist Pedro Sánchez after the success of his no confidence motion. This dramatic turn in Spanish politics seemed impossible only a week ago, when Rajoy’s conservative minority government obtained the parliamentary approval of its 2018 budget with the support of centre-right Ciudadanos and the Basque Nationalist Party.
However, a decision by the National Audience last May 25 changed everything. The court found several Popular Party (PP) officials and the party itself guilty for a setting up a wide corruption scheme since 1989, which led the Socialist Party (PSOE) leader Pedro Sánchez to present a no confidence motion. After a vertiginous week of negotiations among parties, on June 1 the majority of the Parliament supported the motion, ousting Rajoy from the prime minister office and electing Sánchez. The rise of PSOE to government does not guarantee a deep political change in Spain but it opens a new political period in which Unidos Podemos will be a central actor, for Sánchez needs its support.
