Sánchez can count on 179 votes, while he only needs 176. Sánchez and his socialist party PSOE want to work together over the next four years with Sumar, an alliance of left-wing parties, and parties representing the Basque Country, the Canary Islands and Catalonia.
The amnesty deal is causing anger among part of the population. In return for support, Sánchez promises amnesty for those prosecuted for attempting to separate Catalonia from Spain. Among them is Junts per Catalunya leader Carles Puigdemont, who has emigrated to Belgium. He was prime minister of the autonomous region of Catalonia in 2017 when an illegal independence referendum was held.
The PSOE became Spain’s second party in the July elections. Only the right-wing Popular Party (PP) received more votes than the Socialists. PP leader Alberto Nuñez Feijóo was the first to attempt to form a government, but as expected failed because the right-wing bloc does not have a majority in parliament.