Spain: the attempt to force the departure of Pedro Sánchez from the government fails

For the second time in three years, Pedro Sánchez dodged this Wednesday a motion of censure against him promoted by the Spanish far-right Vox.

With just 53 of the 176 votes in favor that it would have needed, the proposal to force the PSOE leader out of the government – who has nine months left in office before the general elections in December this year – failed.

In the vote that took place this Wednesday, after two days of debate, there were 345 deputies present: 201 voted against and 91 abstained.

It is the sixth motion of censure that Spain faces in a democracy, of which only the one that the current president Pedro Sánchez presented in 2018 against Mariano Rajoy, of the Popular Party (PP), was successful.

The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, applauds after the motion of censure was rejected. Photo: EFE

The one that just failed was an initiative by Vox that, this time, avoided -as it did in 2020- running for its president, Santiago Abascal, and proposed Ramón Tamames, a former deputy of the Spanish Communist Party who participated in the Moncloa pacts that in 1977 allowed the Spanish to live a peaceful and democratic transition after the death of the dictator Francisco Franco.

“I think Vox has provided a service. It has been a great opportunity to give a good overview of the situation of Spanish society. That is the most fruitful parliamentary game, without a doubt,” said Tamames, a prestigious academic in economics who is about to turn 90 and whose speech had been leaked to the press a few days before the debate in Parliament.

The candidate, who skipped part of the parliament that he had prepared to shorten it, found the deputies’ interventions long.

He even complained about the time that the president of the government used to defend himself against the motion of no confidence: “That you come here with a bill of 20 pages prepared to speak…”, was the complaint with which Tamames interrupted Pedro Sánchez and earned him a challenge from the president of the Congress, Meritxell Batet.

Ramon Tamames (left) complains about Pedro Sánchez’s speech. Photo: Reuters

During the debate on Tuesday, Tamames did not mention the electoral advance, Vox’s main interest in presenting the motion of censure against Sánchez. He did not even applaud the interventions of the party leader who nominated him.

“This is not a parliamentary session, it is a preparatory meeting for the May 28 elections,” said Tamames, referring to the electoral calendar that awaits the Spanish: municipal and regional elections in May and general elections in December.

PP abstention

As expected, all the parties voted against it except for the 52 Vox deputies and one deputy who belonged to the liberal Ciudadanos party and who is now a member of the mixed bloc. The PP abstained.

All parties voted against it except the 52 Vox deputies. Photo: Reuters

“The motion has been idle,” said the general secretary of the PP and its spokesperson in Parliament, Cuca Gamarra.

“A Gift to the Government”

“We are facing an inexplicable gift to the government. Because with the foreseeable defeat of the motion, he will be able to exhibit a unit that he does not have, “Gamarra insisted.

For the opposition to the PSOE-Podemos coalition led by Sánchez, the motion of no confidence allowed the Executive to project in Parliament and before the 47 million Spaniards an image of unity that it really does not have.

The distances between the PSOE and Unidas Podemos are increasingly evident, although both parties declare that there will be no divorce in a marriage of convenience thanks to the one that managed to form a government in 2019.

Professor Ramón Tamames (c) leaves the chamber accompanied by the Vox spokesman. Photo: EFE

“We have a progressive coalition government for a long time,” said the second vice president of the government and Minister of Labor and Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz, outside Congress.

During the two days of debate, Díaz defended together with Pedro Sánchez the management of his government.

“We have taken the motion of no confidence very seriously. We have incorporated the concerns of the citizenry in the debate on the motion of no confidence and both the president and myself did what we had to do: be accountable for what we are doing,” said Díaz, who, on April 2, will launch his candidacy as leader of a new political force, Sumar.

“What we saw yesterday is that there is no alternative to the progressive coalition government,” added the minister who in 2021 was anointed by Pablo Iglesias as the voice of Podemos when he left the government and leadership of the party that Díaz is trying to distance himself from today.

“We are not going to vote in favor of this motion out of respect for the Spanish and we are not going to vote against it out of respect for you, Mr. Tamames,” clarified the PP parliamentary spokeswoman.

“Today we are not facing a censorship of Sánchez but rather the gift of a parliamentary victory to Sánchez,” he added.

“For once do something noble for your country and call (elections). Leave with dignity. You know full well that your time is up. Let’s get out of the Spain of Pedro Sánchez and hear the real Spain at the polls”, Cuca Gamarra shot Sánchez.

Pedro Sánchez, intervenes during the second and last day of the debate on the motion of censure. Photo: EFE

“This motion of censure is yet another attempt to stop the transformative and reformist work of this Executive branch,” said the head of government.

“And what does the absent leader of the traditional right say today in the face of this story repeated this time as a farce? Shut up. But with his silence he says it all, ”Sánchez retorted, alluding to Alberto Núñez Feijóo, president of the PP.

“That they know and need Vox to be able to govern in communities and in town halls starting next May 28. That is why the Popular Party goes from a decent ‘no’ to an indecent ‘abstention’”, added Sánchez.

The leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal, addresses the media after concluding the session. Photo: EFE

This motion of censure turned out to be more of a critical analysis of a government effort than a real attempt to force the head of government to leave. There was debate, verbal attacks and altered tones of voice, but an essential element was missing for a motion of censure to be one: the presentation of an alternative government program.

However, when leaving Parliament, Santiago Abascal said he was satisfied. “We knew how the result was going to be. We knew what was going to happen. We believe that this government is portrayed. We have once again portrayed one of the worst governments in our history,” said the Vox leader.

Madrid. Correspondent

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