Having received the backing of the Spanish parliament today, on 7 January, Pedro Sanchez, leader of the country’s Socialist Party, is set to commence his second term as prime minister, forming a government with the left-wing populist party Unidas Podemos (UP). The two political parties agreed on a 50-page programme entitled “progressive coalition: a new agreement for Spain”, which sets out the major points of their programme for government and includes a strong focus on social matters. It contains a commitment to repeal the most heavily-criticised measures of the labour market reform of 2012, particularly those that weakened collective bargaining. A significant tax reform has also been announced, which will involve tax rises for the highest earners as well as companies.
Pedro Sanchez was given the green light to lead a new government with a very slim majority. Some 167 members of the Spanish parliament voted in favour (PSOE, Unidas Podemos, the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), the recently-formed left-wing Más País, as well as regional parties Nueva, the nationalist Galician bloc and Teruel Existe), while 165 voted against (Popular Party (PP), the far-right Vox party, the centre-right Ciudadanos, Together for Catalonia, Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP), and regional parties Coalición Canaria and the Regionalist Party of Catalonia (PRC)).
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