MADRID, June 25 (Reuters) – The fragmented lower house of the Spanish parliament on Thursday passed a non-binding resolution urging Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to resign due to a slew of corruption scandals hounding his centre-left Socialist Party and inner circle.
• The motion was approved by 177-171 votes and one abstention in the 350-seat chamber.
• A separate article urged Sanchez to submit to a motion of confidence if he does not call a snap election.
• Justice Minister Felix Bolaños dismissed the vote as purely symbolic, with “zero political effect”.
• Only Sanchez has the power to decide whether there is a motion of confidence.
• On Wednesday Sanchez again told parliament he planned to stay on as premier, denying widespread corruption.
• The opposition can submit a motion of no confidence, but it has so far abstained from doing so as it lacks the required votes to pass it.
• Supporting the resolution were the main opposition People’s Party (PP), their far-right allies Vox, as well as the pro-Catalan independence party Junts, which traditionally opposes the two unionist parties.
• Junts’ support was instrumental in allowing Sanchez to win another term as premier in 2023, but Junts announced last October it would no longer back the government’s legislation.
• The motion says the mounting number of investigations into corruption cases involving political figures appointed and directly supported by Sanchez requires that he take responsibility by resigning.
(Reporting by David Latona; Editing by Andrei Khalip, William Maclean)
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