After a meeting with the head of the Workers Socialist Party, (PSOE) Pedro Sanchez, Iglesias stated: “If, in order to have a left coalition in Spain, my participation in the government is a problem for the socialist party, then I am willing to step down and not be a member of this cabinet. There are no more excuses. We demonstrated that we can step aside. In politics, it is good to know when to step aside and now it is the time for the Socialist Party (to compromise)”.
The formation of a Spanish government has come to a standstill since the result of the December 2015 results when 25,5ml Spanish voters broke the country's long history of two-party hegemony.
Although the ruling party of Mariano Rajoy won the majority, it lost its absolute seat majority in the parliament and thus its ability to form a government.
The Socialist party also came out decimated, continuing its downwind spiral which has halved its power over the last two electoral procedures.
The Spanish system allows for a coalition to form and, having achieved a seat majority in the parliament, form a government. Iglesias' statements are the latest development during the long negotiation process which begun right after the elctions between the parties of the wider left.