Congress speaker announces Pedro Sánchez's prime ministerial bid vote for Wednesday and Thursday

Spanish Congressional speaker Francina Armengol has announced that Pedro Sánchez's prime ministerial bid vote will take place this Wednesday and Thursday. 

The voting will begin at 12 pm with a speech by Sánchez, followed by other politicians in the chamber. The party with the most number of MPs will go first, ending with the party with the fewest representatives.

Armengol said that the time in which the vote will take place is "unpredictable, as it depends on how the MPs speak during the debate." Regardless, the vote will be held on Thursday no matter what.

The speaker announced she had already spoken with Sánchez, who has "enough support to go to a prime ministerial bid vote." Sánchez has signed deals with almost all parties in the chamber, except for the conservative People's Party, far-right Vox and regional Navarrese party UPN. 

In total, Sánchez counts on the support of 179 MPs of the 350-member chamber. He needs just 176 votes in order to receive an absolute majority. 

Amnesty law 

Pedro Sánchez has garnered the needed support after reaching deals with several parties, including Catalan pro-independence Esquerra Republicana and Junts.  

Both have reached different agreements, but they have one thing in common: an amnesty law regarding judicial cases related to the independence push taking place over the last decade.

The Socialists had already negotiated an amnesty law with Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya. However, Junts considered that the agreed-upon amnesty text was insufficient and demanded that the future law also include cases not directly related to the 2017 independence push, which they consider "lawfare.” 

The new text, signed with the political party once led by former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, would protect citizens and those involved in the "before and after of the 2014 non-binding self-determination referendum," as well as those who "have been prosecuted or are in judicial processes linked to [the 2017 vote]."

Although no specific names were mentioned, individuals involved in the push for indepence between 2012 and 2023 could be eligible for this amnesty law. Judges, however, will have the final say.

The text is still not public but has prompted thousands to demonstrate against it in Madrid and in Barcelona over the past week. The European Commission has also asked the Spanish government for more detailed information. The proposed law is expected to be put forward in Congress on Monday.

Armengol said that the chamber will proceed as usual once it is put forward. For her, "dialogue and consensus" are important, since "some narratives cause rifts, and that is never good."