Sanchez gets new term as Spanish PM despite amnesty row

MADRID: Pedro Sanchez won the backing of Spain´s parliament on Thursday for another term as prime minister, with the country divided over his amnesty for Catalan separatists in exchange for their crucial support in a confidence vote.

Sanchez, in office since 2018, won the backing of 179 lawmakers, three more than the absolute majority of 176 in the 350-seat parliament after an often tense two-day debate.

His Socialist party finished second in an inconclusive July general election but he reached deals with several smaller parties to back re-establishing his minority coalition government with hard-left party Sumar.

To win the support of two Catalan separatist parties, he agreed to grant an amnesty to hundreds of people facing legal action for their role in Catalonia´s separatist movement over the past decade.

Among the beneficiaries is Carles Puigdemont, who headed the regional government of Catalonia when it staged a failed secession bid in 2017. Puigdemont organised a referendum that was banned by the central government, followed by a short-lived declaration of independence that sparked Spain´s worst political crisis in decades.