FILE PHOTO: Spain's opposition People's Party leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo gestures during the general election, in Madrid, Spain, July 24, 2023. REUTERS/Juan Medina/File Photo
MADRID (Reuters) - The leader of Spain's conservatives stuck to his plan on Tuesday of getting enough support in parliament for a right-wing government following Sunday's inconclusive election, even as such prospects looked dim after a Basque party refused to negotiate.
The centre-right Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) said on social media platform X - formerly Twitter - that its president had told People's Party (PP) leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo the PNV would not hold any talks on backing his premiership bid.
The PP earned 136 seats in the 350-seat lower house, well short of the 176 lawmakers needed for an outright majority. It would only be able to form a government with the support of other parties, including far-right Vox, with which it has formed alliances in several regional administrations.
The anti-immigration, anti-feminist Vox party lost seats in Sunday's vote, staving off the prospect of a nationalist-backed government and pointing to limitations in the European far-right's bid for the mainstream.
Polls had predicted a win for the centre-right PP with Vox as the likely kingmaker but they failed to win a majority, leaving Catalan and Basque pro-independence parties holding the balance of power in a hung parliament.
"To say that you have no support because of a conversation with some group is a hasty conclusion," Feijoo told reporters on Tuesday. He said he had yet to talk to Vox leadership.
"It would be a mistake to allow the separatists to rule," he added, referring to what he has described as a "coalition of losers" led by the Socialists of acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who won 122 seats.
The Spanish right has rapped the left, which has been in power since 2018, for its reliance on pro-independence parties, while the left has warned of a return to regressive policies regarding civil and women's rights and immigration.
Sanchez could renew his term if he garners the support from parties that advocate the independence of the Catalonia, Basque Country and Galicia regions, as well as PNV, although a repeat election is seen as a distinct possibility.
The left-wing Galician National Bloc on Monday said its sole lawmaker would vote for Sanchez to avoid an electoral repeat.
Feijoo said he planned to talk to Sanchez soon, which suggested he might still try to convince the Socialists to enable his government by abstaining.
Acting government spokesperson Isabel Rodriguez said it was too early for negotiations, which would begin after parliament convened on Aug. 17.
The People's Union of Navarre - which has one seat - is the only other centre-right party that has expressed support for Feijoo, bringing his hypothetical support base, including Vox, to 170 seats, six short of an outright majority.
The regionalist Canary Coalition, which also has one lawmaker, governs in the Canary Islands together with the PP but has repeatedly rejected Vox's discourse and policies. Leader Ana Oramas on Monday said there was "no chance" of Feijoo becoming prime minister.
The remaining parties have also signalled their opposition to any coalition that includes the far right.
(Reporting by Emma Pinedo and Belén Carreño, Writing by David Latona; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Bernadette Baum)
