NO-CONFIDENCE VOTE OUSTS PM RAJOY
MADRID Pedro Sanchez, the leader of Spain’s socialist party, will take office Saturday as the country’s new prime minister, having led a swift campaign to remove Mariano Rajoy, pictured at left below.
Sanchez, a pro-European moderate, squeezed through a vote of no-confidence in Rajoy, whose People’s Party (PP) has been mired in a corruption scandal. It comes as the crisis in Catalonia overcame a major milestone, with Madrid agreeing to lift direct rule on the separatist-controlled Barcelona parliament.
Sanchez said Friday that his government would resume dialogue with Catalonia’s pro-independence forces, after he relied on separatists in the Spanish parliament to help him push Rajoy out of office.