Mariano Rajoy to undergo second vote of confidence on Friday

Lower House of Parliament, Madrid

Mariano Rajoy responded to the speeches from the representatives of the different Parliamentary groups during the course of the second day of the investiture session.

In his response to the General Secretary of the PSOE [Spanish Socialist Workers' Party], Pedro Sánchez, Mariano Rajoy reiterated his offer to make State pacts that he proposed on Tuesday and highlighted that the two parties that have governed Spain since the transition to democracy agree on the basic issues, the rules of co-existence, the Constitution and the European acquis.

Following the speeches by the representatives of Grupo Confederal de Unidos Podemos-En Comú Podem-En Marea, the acting President of the Government and candidate for re-election pointed out that it is likely that they agree on many goals, such as growth and job creation, although they disagree on the way to achieve them. As regards the economic situation, he highlighted the improvement in the indicators on poverty, according to the latest figures from Eurostat, and the sustained increase in household consumption and the granting of loans. At a European level, he declared himself to be an "enthusiastic pro-European" and an advocate of the Euro, which also requires accepting the rules that govern the single currency.

In his response to the President of Ciudadanos, Albert Rivera, Mariano Rajoy highlighted that the fight against tax fraud, one of the points in the agreement between the two parties, has led to the largest increase in tax revenue ever over the last four years. As regards education, he defended the increases in grants, the reduction in the school drop-out rate and the boost to vocational training.

Pool Moncloa/Diego CrespoIn response to the spokesperson for Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya [Republican Left of Catalonia], Joan Tardà, Mariano Rajoy reiterated that a referendum on sovereignty in Catalonia cannot take place because the decisions that affect Spain must be taken by all the people of Spain and not just part of them. "No part of the country can break away without the consent of the whole country".

The acting President of the Government stressed to the spokesperson for the Basque Group EAJ-PNV, Aitor Esteban, that the government has attended to and responded to the needs of the Basque people and guaranteed their rights. He also highlighted the agreements reached with the Regional Government of the Basque Country on economic and tax issues as well as the investments made there.

In response to the representatives of the different parties that make up the Mixed Group, Mariano Rajoy once again advocated the need to form a stable and lasting government based on pacts. In this regard, he recalled that he is standing for a vote of confidence with the support of 170 MPs and a pre-agreed programme. "This represents a reasonable number of seats to be able to form a government in Spain rather than having to resort to a third round of elections".

Following the speech by the spokesperson for the PP [People's Party], Rafael Hernando, Mariano Rajoy gave his final response by thanking the PP, Ciudadanos and the Canary Islands Coalition for the support of the their MPs and the disposition of the groups co-aligned with his party (Foro Asturias and Unión del Pueblo Navarro). In response to the rest of the political parties, he thanked them for offering "a more reasonable debate than on previous occasions".

In the first round of voting, the candidate for the investiture received 170 votes while 180 were cast against him. As established in the Spanish Constitution and in prevailing legislation, since he has not received an absolute majority of the Lower House of Parliament (176 MPs), a second round of voting will be held 48 hours later, in which the candidate will be invested as the President of the Government if he receives a simple majority, in other words, more votes in favour than against,

The Speaker of the Lower House of Parliament, Ana Pastor, called a new investiture session on Friday at 7 pm. Voting will not take place before 8:05 pm.