Page 8 - ARUBA TODAY

A8 WORLD NEWS
Wednesday 8 January 2020
Spain's Sanchez wins cliffhanger vote to form government

By CIARAN GILES confidence vote that is re-
BARRY HATTON quired before taking office.
Associated Press In weeks of negotiations
MADRID (AP) — Spain's So- since the last election in
cialist leader Pedro Sán- November, Sánchez mus-
chez scraped through a tered enough support — or
confidence vote Tuesday promises to abstain — from
with hard-fought support a handful of small regional
from smaller parties, allow- parties to take power.
ing him to form a new leftist Andrew Dowling, an expert
coalition government and on Spanish contemporary
end almost a year of politi- politics at Cardiff University
cal limbo in the eurozone's in Wales, said Sanchez at-
fourth-largest economy. tained power through "a
Sánchez's cliffhanger vic- very fragile agreement"
tory by just two votes in par- with other parties and will
liament — the final tally was now be "subject to intense
167-165, with 18 absten- political pressure" by his
tions — was the slimmest for right-of-center political op-
a prime minister candidate ponents.
in decades. The left-wing "They're not going to give
United We Can party will any quarter to this new
be a junior partner in the government (which has)
coalition. Spain's caretaker Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez applauds at the Spanish parliament in Madrid a very, very fragile major-
Sánchez needed the votes Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020. ity. They are going to use
or abstention promise of an Associated Press all means necessary to
array of smaller parties to prevent this government
get past. His supporters in parliamentary approval. the death of long-time dic- He is expected to sworn in passing legislation," Dowl-
parliament erupted into a A government term is nor- tator Gen. Francisco Fran- Wednesday and hold his ing said in a telephone in-
standing ovation when the mally four years. Arrayed co. first Cabinet meeting of terview.
result of the vote was an- against Sánchez 's admin- "A progressive coalition is ministers Friday. Dowling said he didn't ex-
nounced in the Chamber istration will be three main going to govern because Sánchez's Socialists won pect any radical policies
of Deputies. right-of-center parties. that is what Spaniards de- two consecutive general from the new administra-
The hair-line margin of vic- Coalition governments are cided," Sánchez told the elections in 2019, but both tion, predicting it will pres-
tory has raised doubts common in Europe, but it is house before the vote. times they failed to capture ent "a moderate social
about how long the coali- Spain's first since the coun- Sánchez, 47, has been a parliamentary majority. democratic program" fo-
tion government will last, as try returned to democracy caretaker prime minister That meant they couldn't cusing on workers' and wo-
its policies require regular in 1978, three years after since early last year. win the parliamentary mens' rights.q

Greek PM says IMF to

close its Athens offices

within months

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — the eurozone and the IMF
The International Monetary starting in 2010, to avoid
Fund will close its offices in going bust. This became
Athens in coming months, necessary after the country
a decade after it joined found itself unable to bor-
in a huge bailout program row in international money
that kept Greece afloat, markets, following revela-
Greece's prime minister tions that it had under-re-
said Tuesday. ported key financial data
Kyriakos Mitsotakis said for years.
Greece would continue The bailout programs end-
to cooperate with the IMF, ed in August 2018, and the
but "as a country that has country has regained mar-
exited the IMF's strict sur- ket access after a painful
veillance framework." The eight-year effort to right
planned move is seen as its finances - the rescue
symbolic confirmation of money came with strict
the country's return to fi- conditions. During the bail-
nancial respectability. out era, Greece saw un-
Mitsotakis spoke following employment spike sharply
a meeting in Washington higher, while incomes were
with the fund's new man- repeatedly slashed and
aging director, Kristalina taxes hiked.
Georgieva. Athens is still subject to
Greece required three post-bailout surveillance by
bailouts from its partners in its creditors.q