Spain's Socialist leader becomes new PM

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Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was voted out of office on Friday in a no-confidence motion.

The leader of the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) Pedro Sanchez will replace Rajoy.

Sanchez, a 46-year-old economist with no government experience, will take the oath of office at 11:00 am local time (0900 GMT) on Saturday before King Felipe VI at the Zarzuela Palace near Madrid.

The Socialist leader still must name his cabinet and it is only when their names are published in an official government journal in the coming days that he will fully assume his functions.

Socialist leader becomes new PM

Sanchez, joined the PSOE in 1993, became the new prime minister on Friday after the motion that saw 180 votes in favor, 169 against and one abstention.

The no-confidence motion was triggered by a long-run corruption trial, known as the Gurtel case, involving 29 people in Rajoy’s People's Party (PP). It is the first time that a prime minister has been ousted by a no-confidence motion since Spain became a democracy.

Sanchez was elected secretary-general of the PSOE in July 2014, resigned following an internal rebellion in 2016 and was re-elected in 2017.

Spain's Socialist (PSOE) leader Pedro Sanchez winks after delivering a speech during a motion of no-confidence debate at Parliament in Madrid, Spain, May 31, 2018. /Reuters Photo

After becoming the new PM, Sanchez said he would face Spain's complex political situation with "determination."

He said he would open "dialogues," always according to the constitution, to deal with the separatist issue in Spain's northeastern region of Catalonia.

According to reports, Sanchez said he would respect the already passed 2018 State Budget and announced he would be willing to call general elections, although he did not reveal any dates.

'New government highly unstable'

In order to push through the no-confidence motion, the Socialists, who hold just 84 of the parliament's 350 seats, have had to cozy up to parties they have previously clashed with, like Catalan separatists and the anti-establishment Podemos.

Sanchez gives a speech during a debate on a no-confidence motion at the Lower House of the Spanish Parliament in Madrid, June 01, 2018. /‍VCG Photo

As such, even if Sanchez has pledged to govern long enough to restore "institutional stability," Sanchez's new government will likely be highly unstable.

Aitor Esteban of the Basque PNV nationalist party, whose support proved decisive for the motion's success, said Thursday such a minority government would be "weak and difficult, complicated."

Admitted defeat ahead of vote

Rajoy is the first Spanish premier to lose a no-confidence vote since the country transitioned to democracy after the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975, according to reports.

Admitting defeat on Friday ahead of the vote, Rajoy said that it had been "an honor" to serve the country. "The no-confidence motion is likely to go through, which means Mr. Pedro Sanchez will be the new prime minister."

Rajoy became Spain's first sitting prime minister to give evidence in a trial when he was called as a witness last year.

People watch in a bar as Rajoy appears as a witness in a major graft trial at Spain's High Court near Madrid, July 26, 2017. /VCG Photo

In his term, Rajoy put Spain back onto the path of growth after a devastating economic crisis although unemployment remains sky-high, jobs are precarious and many complain inequalities have risen.

But his term in office was also marred by a series of corruption scandals involving former PP members. And it was another graft scandal, the "Gurtel" case, which prompted the no-confidence motion.

The "Gurtel" case has long been a thorn in the side of the PP, which lost its absolute majority in parliament in 2015 partly because of the repeated corruption scandals. The sentencing comes in the same week that Eduardo Zaplano, a former PP minister, was detained for alleged graft when he was president of the eastern Valencia region.

(With input from Reuters, AFP, and other agencies.)