Spain PM wants dialog with rivals to form coalition govt.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy says his party, which lost its parliamentary majority in recent elections, will engage in dialog with rival parties to try to put together a new government.

“We have the responsibility to launch a process of dialogue to offer certainty within and outside Spain,” Rajoy said in Madrid. “Spain cannot afford a period of political lack of clarity that would spoil the progress achieved during these years.”

The Spanish premier warned that if the political parties fail to reach agreement on a power-sharing government, Spanish King Felipe VI will dissolve parliament. Under Spain’s constitution, parties have a two-month deadline to form a government after elections; otherwise the king can declare new elections.

Chances for Rajoy’s center-right People’s Party (PP) to form a unity government look thin without support from left-wing parties.

In the general elections on December 20, the ruling PP won 123 seats in the 350-seat parliament – far below the threshold to enable it to form a government on its own; the Socialists finished second, followed by two new parties, the anti-austerity Podemos and the pro-business Ciudadanos.

The Socialists, along with the two new parties, have made clear that they will not back Rajoy in a new government coalition. The leader of Spain’s Podemos Party Pablo Iglesias, which came third in the Sunday general elections, said he will not allow the ruling party to form a new government and will soon begin a round of talks with all other political parties to discuss alternative solutions.

The ruling PP has been criticized for policies that have contributed to a 21-percent unemployment rate. It has also been accused of corruption.

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