The rank and file membership of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) has given its blessing to the provisional agreement that the party leadership has reached with left-wing Unidas Podemos to form a Spanish coalition government under current acting PM Pedro Sánchez.
PSOE party members have thus given a green light to the plan for Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias to hold one of the deputy PM positions in the new Spanish executive, along with several other Podemos members who are to hold cabinet portfolios.
The agreement won the support of 92% of members who voted this Saturday, according to the first provisional count.
More than 178,000 PSOE affiliates were called to vote, and 63.1% of them took part in the consultation, which was binding on the leadership. Turnout was 72% in large centres and 52% in small ones, and the overall average participation was higher than in a similar consultation conducted in 2017 on the proposed government pact with Ciudadanos, when 51.7% took part.
However, in Catalonia, there was less enthusiasm - about voting. Most members of the PSC, Catalan branch of the Socialist party, did not take part in the vote, with turnout only reaching 44.94%. Nevertheless, those who did cast votes, supported the proposed coalition as overwhelmingly as in the rest of the Spanish state: 93.64% of the votes (6,007 votes) were in favour.
The internal party vote began on Friday on a telematic basis, and was extended to physical voting points on Saturday, until polls closed at 8pm.