The head of the Spanish socialist PSOE, Pedro Sánchez has lost the power struggle over the leadership of the party on Saturday night and has resigned. Earlier, his proposal to hold an extraordinary congress in three weeks was rejected by 133 to 109 votes and therefore he resigned as secretary general of the party. Mr. Sanchez had been heavily criticized, after the loss of PSOE from 28.8 to 22.7 percent in the last election. With Sánchez resignation, the way towards a new government in Madrid should be free, whereby the PSOE would remain in the opposition. 

Since national elections last December four attempts to form a cabinet have failed in parliament. Neither a center-right coalition of the conservative Popular Party (PP) of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and the liberal Ciudadanos, nor a coalition of PSOE and the leftist grouping Podemos could achieve a majority. The majority Popular Party (PP) under acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has sought to form a coalition government; nonetheless, Mr. Sanchez repeatedly blocked their attempts by arguing against the conservative People's party. As a result, the Socialist Party has been divided between Mr. Sanchez supporters and opponents who support a coalition.

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