Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has survived a vote of no-confidence brought to parliament by the anti-austerity Podemos party to denounce rampant corruption.

The motion was backed by 82 legislators, with 170 voting against it and 97 abstaining, prompting it to fail on Wednesday.

The vote had not been expected to succeed, but it was brought to parliament by Podemos to put pressure on Rajoy's ruling right-wing Popular Party (PP), which has been hit by a series of corruption scandals.

It was also an occasion for other opposition parties to express their differences in a highly fragmented parliament that has forced Rajoy to head up a minority government following successive inconclusive elections in 2015 and 2016.

"We are on the right track to build up an alternative majority," Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias told Reuters news agency after the vote.

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Rajoy said he was satisfied with the outcome of the vote. "It has been rejected by a wide majority and this means we will be able to keep working," he told journalists.

The vote followed a 16-hour debate in which Rajoy faced off against Iglesias, who was proposed as an alternative candidate for prime minister, but lacked sufficient support in the lower house.

Rajoy defended his government's record in creating jobs and boosting growth that has lifted Spain's economy out of recession.

Iglesias and his supporters highlighted graft investigations into the funding of the ruling party. Iglesias said Rajoy would be remembered as "the president of corruption".

Rajoy argued there were corruption cases in all parties, but that it was not the norm and no case involved members of his government.

But Rajoy has been dragged into one of the most damaging of the cases, an alleged kickbacks-for-contracts scheme. He is set to testify as a witness in the case on July 26.

Opinion polls regularly show corruption is a major concern in Spain after high unemployment.

Rajoy heads a minority government and his party, with 134 seats, counts on the support of the centrist Ciudadanos party's 32 deputies and several others.

The leading opposition Socialist party, with 84 deputies, is considering presenting its own no-confidence motion, but on Wednesday decided to abstain rather than be seen supporting Iglesias, whom it deems to be an anti-establishment populist.

Podemos emerged in 2013 from grassroots protests that swept across the country during the five-year severe economic recession that ended that year.</s>MADRID—Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy survived a parliamentary vote of confidence on Wednesday, but the two-day debate was an uncomfortable public airing of the corruption investigations that have dogged his party.

Spanish lawmakers rejected by 170 to 82 the no-confidence vote against Mr. Rajoy, who was re-elected prime minister of the...</s>MADRID (AP) — Conservative Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy survived Wednesday, as expected, a parliamentary vote of no-confidence that was called by far-left lawmakers to protest the many corruption scandals tainting the ruling Popular Party.

The vote followed a 16-hour debate in which Rajoy faced off against Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias, who was proposed as an alternative candidate for prime minister but lacked sufficient support in the lower house.

The no-confidence motion was rejected by 170 votes to 82, with 97 abstentions.

In the debate, Rajoy highlighted his government’s record in creating jobs and boosting growth since 2011 to lift Spain’s economy out of recession.

Iglesias and his supporters levelled non-stop accusations of graft, listing the dozens of investigations involving Rajoy’s party. Iglesias said Rajoy would be remembered as “the president of corruption.”

Rajoy argued there were corruption cases in all parties but that it was not the norm and no case involved members of his government.

He has, however, been dragged into one of the most damaging of the cases, an alleged kickbacks-for-contracts scheme. He testifies as a witness in the case July 26.

Following the vote, Iglesias promised to keep working to oust the Popular Party from office.

But Rajoy said the vote sent “a clear message” of rejection to Iglesias’ party, whom he classified as “radicals.”

He said the fact that an immense majority decided not to support the motion was a signal that his government could get back to work.

Rajoy heads a minority government since elections last year. His party, with 134 seats, counts on the support of the centrist Ciudadanos party’s 32 deputies and several others.

The leading opposition Socialist party, with 84 deputies, is considering presenting its own no-confidence motion, but on Wednesday decided to abstain rather than be seen supporting Iglesias, whom it deems to be an anti-establishment populist.

Podemos emerged in 2013 from grassroots protests that swept across the country during the five-year severe economic recession that ended that year.</s>MADRID (AP) — Conservative Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has won as expected a vote of no-confidence presented in Parliament by far-left lawmakers who intended to highlight the corruption that has tainted the ruling Popular Party.

The 16-hour debate since Tuesday leading to Wednesday’s vote saw Rajoy facing the leader of Podemos, Pablo Iglesias, who was proposed as candidate for alternative prime minister despite not having enough support in the lower house.

Rajoy bragged about his government’s record in creating jobs and boosting growth that lifted Spain’s economy out of recession. Iglesias and his supporters highlighted graft investigations into the funding of the ruling party.

The motion was backed by 82 lawmakers, with 170 voting against it and 97 abstaining.

Following the vote, Iglesias promised to keep working to oust the Popular Party.</s>Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, right, reacts after Spanish lawmakers voted down a no-confidence motion brought by the anti-austerity Podemos in Parliament in Madrid, Spain June 14, 2017. Photo - Reuters Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, right, reacts after Spanish lawmakers voted down a no-confidence motion brought by the anti-austerity Podemos in Parliament in Madrid, Spain June 14, 2017.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Times of Oman.</s>MADRID (AP) - Spanish lawmakers have begun debating a motion of no confidence against conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, called in protest over the large number of corruption scandals involving his ruling Popular Party.

The motion to be voted on after the debate Tuesday was proposed by the far-left Podemos party but it is unlikely to get the required backing of an absolute majority of deputies needed to oust Rajoy.

Podemos, with 71 deputies in the 350-seat parliament, is presenting the party's ponytailed leader, Pablo Iglesias, as an alternative candidate to replace Rajoy.

Rajoy, who heads a minority government, has been dragged into the most damaging of the corruption cases involving the Popular Party, an alleged kickbacks-for-contracts scheme to finance party activities. He testifies as a witness in the case July 26.</s>MADRID: Spain's parliament on Tuesday began to debate a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy after corruption scandals linked to his ruling People's Party.

The motion, filed by anti-austerity party Podemos, is not expected to win the support of the absolute majority of lawmakers needed to force out Rajoy, who won re-election last year and leads a minority government.

Podemos, which took around a fifth of the vote in last year's two elections, says the motion is a rally against the PP's alleged use of public coffers and institutions to defend its own interests to the detriment of the electorate.

"Spain is fed up with your theft, and democracy demands a change," Podemos's parliamentary speaker, Irene Montero, told lawmakers.

"Corruption has a headquarters and it is at Genova 13," she said, referring to the address of the PP's party base in Madrid.

Dozens of PP members - including former economy minister and IMF chief Rodrigo Rato - have been implicated in graft cases, which opposition parties say shows entrenched corruption.

Rajoy has been called to testify as a witness at a trial of PP members including former party treasurer Luis Barcenas on July 26 following a long investigation into an alleged party slush fund. He has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

The PP denies that any senior party officials were involved in cases of corruption. It says only a tiny number of its politicians are corrupt and that it is tackling the problem.

The no-confidence vote is expected to be held on Wednesday.

The vote is a direct challenge to the Socialist party, whose place in Spanish politics as the traditional left-wing opposition Podemos hopes to seize. The Socialists enabled Rajoy's re-election last October after 10 months of deadlock by abstaining in a parliamentary vote.</s>Spanish lawmakers on Wednesday reaffirmed their confidence in Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy as they voted down a no-confidence motion brought by the anti-austerity Podemos party.

MADRID: Spanish lawmakers on Wednesday voted down a no-confidence motion in Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy brought by the anti-austerity Podemos party.

The motion had not been expected to garner the majority of votes needed to oust Rajoy given the Socialists had said they would abstain and the liberal Ciudadanos and other smaller regional parties had said they would vote against the proposal.

But the move from Podemos was primarily aimed at portraying the party as leader of the opposition to the centre-right government at a time when the Socialists have just picked a new leader and are struggling with falling support, analysts say.

"We are on the right track to build up an alternative majority," Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias said after the vote.

"Today, we are one step closer to removing the People's Party from the institutions."

The motion was rejected with 170 votes against, 82 votes for and 97 abstentions, roughly in line with the breakdown when Rajoy was voted in as prime minister last year, showing there has been no change in the balance of power in parliament.

Rajoy, who has secured support for the budget and obtained as a result at least two years of stability, said he was satisfied with the outcome of the vote.

"It has been rejected by a wide majority and this means we will be able to keep working," he told journalists.</s>Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy has comfortably survived a parliamentary no-confidence vote brought against him due to a series of corruption scandals tainting his conservative Popular Party (PP).

The vote was called by the leftist Unidos Podemos coalition, which charged that the PP was unfit to govern following a torrent of investigations and lawsuits engulfing it recently. However, the motion had been widely expected to fail from the outset, because Unidos Podemos, the third-biggest party in parliament, was not able to form an alternative administration.

The Basque Bildu coalition and the Catalan Republican Left (ERC) also supported the no-confidence motion, which received 82 votes in the 350-seat Congress in Wednesday’s ballot. There were 170 votes against and 97 abstentions.

“You will go down in history as the prime minister of corruption,” Unidos Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias told Mr Rajoy during a three-hour speech on Tuesday, in the debate leading up to the vote.

“You bailed out your friends, not the Spanish people,” he added, in reference to the 2012 financial crisis, when several banks were rescued at taxpayers’ expense.

Investigators have been probing the PP’s accounts following allegations that for many years the party kept a slush fund financed by corporate bribes. In a separate case, the former regional premier of Madrid, Ignacio González, was arrested in April on charges of embezzling a public water company.

Meanwhile, former economy minister and IMF managing director Rodrigo Rato has been facing three lawsuits related to his tax affairs and management of Bankia bank. Several other scandals have also been plaguing the party, at a local and national level.

Mr Rajoy, who surprised many by choosing to take part in the debate instead of delegating, responded by highlighting Spain’s economic stability under his supervision and dismissing the credentials of Unidos Podemos as a potential party of government.

“As far as governing this country is concerned, Mr Iglesias, I don’t believe you deserve that honour nor Spain that punishment,” the prime minister said.

This was the third no-confidence motion in Spain’s modern history and each one has failed. Unidos Podemos has faced widespread criticism for calling a vote that always appeared doomed. However, it was an opportunity for Mr Iglesias to present his party as the main opposition force, ahead of the Socialists, who only recently chose a new leader, Pedro Sánchez, after months of turmoil.

The Socialists abstained in Wednesday’s vote, but an apparent thawing of relations between them and Unidos Podemos during the debate hinted that the two parties might be able to work together in the future to prevent the PP from governing – something they already do in several city halls and regional governments.

“We are opening the door to the possibility of changing the government in Spain,” Unidos Podemos congressman Pablo Bustinduy told The Irish Times.

“We think this is the first step towards having that different government that will make the alternative not only possible but a reality.”</s>MADRID - Spain’s conservative government on Wednesday survived a vote of no confidence tabled by the far-left Podemos to denounce rampant corruption after a day-and-a-half of lively, sometimes acrimonious debate.

Eighty-two lawmakers in the lower house voted in favour of the motion to unseat Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, 170 against and 97 abstained, prompting it to fail.

The vote had never been expected to succeed as a majority of lawmakers were against it, but it was brought to parliament by Podemos to shine the spotlight on Rajoy’s ruling Popular Party (PP), which has been hit by a series of corruption scandals.

It was also the occasion for other opposition parties and Podemos to lay bare their differences in a highly-fragmented parliament that has forced Rajoy to head up a minority government following two inconclusive elections in 2015 and 2016.

Albert Rivera, head of the centre-right Ciudadanos, which like Podemos burst onto the national political scene in these elections on the back of voter frustration with traditional parties, asked its leader Pablo Iglesias to “come back to reality.”

In his speech, he said that seven of the 11 measures to fight corruption that Iglesias proposed during Tuesday’s debate were already being examined in parliament.

“Leave the bus and come back to parliament,” he told Iglesias, referring to a much-publicised bus commissioned by Podemos to tour Spain and denounce corruption. “Get to work instead of presenting votes of no confidence.”

To which Podemos responded that its parliamentary group was the one that had registered most initiatives.

“For a time, you were able to fool people by saying you were something else, that you had come to regenerate things, but in reality, you are a crutch for the Popular Party, nothing more,” said Iglesias.

The main opposition Socialists also had a dig at Podemos.

“Stop saying that this is an opportunity to unseat Rajoy, because it isn’t true,” said Jose Luis Abalos, parliamentary spokesman for the Socialists, pointing to the fact that Podemos knew it did not have the necessary support to see the vote through.

But the motion still managed to once again raise the issue of corruption in Spain, where the PP has been particularly hard hit by graft scandals.
Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, survives a no-confidence vote, presented by Podemos, as he is called to declare as a witness in the trial for Gürtel corruption scandal in 26 July.