Podemos wish to help form government of the left

UPDATE: following his meeting with King Felipe, Pedro Sanchez, leader of the PSOE, when asked about the unexpected offer to form a coalition with Podemos was deliberately non-committal.

Whilst he did not confirm that he would accept, he equally did not dismiss it out of hand so the next few days may be interesting, especially as the Speaker needs to make a formal recommendation to His Majesty with regards as to who should form the next government.

SOMEWHAT surprisingly, in view of previous statements concerning Catalonia, following his meeting with King Felipe of January 22, Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias announced at a press conference that he is ready to work with Pedro Sánchez (PSOE) and Alberto Garzón (United Left) to put together a “progressive government of change”.

Mr. Iglesias denied that he had already done the deal with the Socialist Party and United Left insisting “The first person I have told about this is the head of state”.

He indicated that he would expect to be Deputy Prime Minister in a socialist government led by Pedro Sánchez and said “It would be an honour for me and for us to form part of that government”.

He will now approach the other two party leaders to canvas their opinion but even with those three parties’ votes combined, they will still not command a majority although they may expect support without commitment from other regional members of the Cortes.