Spain’s Socialists, Podemos sign pact on ‘progressive’ coalition govt

Spain’s Socialist acting PM Pedro Sanchez and the leader of left-wing Unidas Podemos, Pablo Iglesias, signed a preliminary agreement on Tuesday aiming to form a “progressive” coalition government, Reuters said.

The combination of their seats is not enough on its own to secure a majority in parliament and they will still need to seek support from other parties for such a government to be confirmed.

Sunday’s election – the fourth in four years – left Spain’s parliament even more fragmented than a previous ballot in April, with the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party retaining its lead but further away from a majority.

The country has suffered in the past decade from austerity and near financial collapse, and saw a PP government ousted over a corruption scandal.