Spain's acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Thursday he had accepted a mandate from the King to form a government although he warned he might fail and left open the date for a potential confidence vote in parliament, according to Reuters. Rajoy said he would now open a round of talks with other parties to try to convince them to vote for his conservative People's Party. Most of them declined to support plans for a conservative-led government in talks with the King on Thursday and earlier this week, however, leaving the PP with just 137 votes in parliament when 176 are needed to secure a majority. "Spain needs a government now, this government should be headed by the PP and there is no alternative to this," Rajoy told a news conference after meeting with King Felipe. "I will try to form this government but not everything depends on me." National elections in December and June both resulted in hung parliaments, forcing the parties to try to negotiate their way to a viable coalition -- so far without success, despite four rounds of formal consultations with the king. Insiders were hoping a deadline to pass a budget for 2017 by the end of September will concentrate minds. But the left-leaning parties, the second-placed Socialists and Unidos Podemos ("Together We Can"), reiterated after the talks with the King that they would oppose Rajoy.
