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M. Continuo

Spain's PM Rajoy to meet Socialist leader over potential pact


    MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will meet Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday, his office said, the first of a series of talks between senior political figures to explore possible pacts after an inconclusive election on Sunday.

    Rajoy's centre-right People's Party (PP) won most votes but fell way short of a majority as left-wing Podemos and another newcomer, centrist Ciudadanos (Citizens), ate into the PP's and the Socialists' traditional supporter base.

    Rajoy, who has the first chance to form a new government, has limited options.

    Business-friendly Ciudadanos has said it would abstain in a parliamentary vote on a new PP administration, but that would still leave Rajoy's party short of the support it needs to govern.

    It is virtually impossible for Rajoy to stay in power without the support of the Socialists, or at least their abstention too.

    But several senior Socialist officials have already said the party should be in opposition and would reject any government led by Rajoy or the PP.

    The Socialists, already haemorrhaging support to Podemos, will be mindful of what happened to Greece's once powerful centre-left party, Pasok, which has seen its support plunge since it joined a coalition led by the centre-right New Democracy in 2012.

    (Reporting by Julien Toyer; editing by John Stonestreet)