The lower house of the Spanish parliament did not support on Tuesday acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's candidacy to be confirmed as the head of the government.
As many as 124 lawmakers supported Sanchez, the leader of the Socialist Party, while 170 voted against him, 52 abstained and four did not take part in the vote.
Sanchez had to secure at least 176 votes in order to be confirmed as the prime minister.
Sanchez’s Socialists won April’s election but fell short of an outright majority and turned to Podemos for support. The leaders of the parties appeared to have disagreements on several issues. On Monday, Podemos head Pablo Iglesias said that the Socialists refused to give key ministry positions to Podemos members.
The second tour of the voting will be held on Thursday. To secure victory, the acting prime minister will need to get a simple majority of the votes. If Sanchez fails to get enough votes, Spanish King Felipe VI will have to meet with the leaders of the parliamentary factions to decide whether a new candidate will be proposed or a snap election will be held.