News / EU

Rajoy baffles rivals on coalition govt. offer

Thursday, 18 August 2016 8:25 AM [ Last Update: Saturday, 20 August 2016 4:57 AM ]

Spanish acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy gestures during a press conference in the capital, Madrid, on August 17, 2016. ©AFP

Spain's acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has surprised rivals by refusing to say if he will accept an opposition offer to form a coalition government.

The offer could end more than eight months of political uncertainty in Spain where Rajoy has been struggling to put together a coalition government.

The prime minister was handed a lifeline last week by the centrist Ciudadanos (Citizens) party which said it was open to negotiations on the formation of a coalition government.

The party gave Rajoy an ultimatum, saying he had to meet six conditions, including anti-corruption measures and reform of the electoral system.

Rajoy was expected to accept the conditions but instead emerged from a meeting of his party leaders on Wednesday saying only that he had won a mandate to talk to Ciudadanos.

Since December 2015, when Spain’s election ended inconclusively, the country has been without a proper government.

In June, Rajoy's conservative People's Party (PP) won the most votes in parliamentary elections but not enough to form a majority government.

He now needs the backing or at least the abstention of other parties to win a confidence vote in the 350-seat lower house of parliament.

Subsequent attempts by political parties to reach agreement on a government have so far failed but Ciudadanos raised prospects of a breakthrough last week,

The party offered Rajoy their support in return for signing a six-point package of political reform.

On Wednesday, Rajoy did not clarify his party's stance on the reforms, which would involve launching a parliamentary investigation into an alleged PP slush fund.

"Spain needs a government right now and not new elections," Rajoy told reporters.

However, Ciudadanos leader Jose Manuel Villegas said, "As long as Rajoy does not take decisions or accept the conditions, negotiations will not begin and we will remain in the same situation that we were before."

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.ir