MADRID (Sputnik) – During Wednesday's first round of voting, 170 members of parliament, mainly from Rajoy's People's Party and the Ciudadanos (Citizens) party, voted for the acting prime minister to remain in his post, while 180, mainly PSOE and the left-wing Podemos opposed it.
"The PSOE has to decide whether it would opt for an alternative to the acting [prime minister], Mariano Rajoy, or to allow him to rule, the investiture debate this week showed that there are two clear options on the table, and the socialists must choose," Uralde of the Unidos Podemos coalition said.
In June, Rajoy's PP won the most seats in the parliamentary election, with Spanish Socialist PSOE finishing second. None of the political forces have an absolute majority and thus cannot form a government on their own.
A second round of voting will take place on September 2, where a simple majority of the "yes" votes would serve to approve his candidacy.
