Parliament ousts Spain PM, replaced by Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez

The parliamentary debate resumed at 9 a.m. local time and the vote of confidence is expected at around 12 midday.

Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez on Thursday secured the backing of six smaller parties for the motion, giving him the absolute majority he needs to take over from Rajoy as premier.

If the vote goes though, Mr Rajoy will be the first Spanish prime minister to lose a no-confidence vote.

The new leader has committed to a budget passed by Rajoy, and it will be hard to repeal reforms including new labor laws and healthcare and education budget cuts, Reuters said.

The Spanish parliament’s lower house is debating whether to end Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s almost eight years in power and replace him with the leader of the Socialist opposition.

The reputation of Rajoy’s Popular Party had been largely damaged after a court verdict said it was a beneficiary of a massive kickbacks-for-contracts scheme.

Spain is in the eurozone’s top four economies and is an influential member of the European Union.

Rock’s post-Brexit future relations with Spain and the EU.

Politics, though, was always his passion.

Rajoy had refused to step down before the no-confidence vote, and has defended his party in the corruption scandal that has now proven to be his downfall.

Sanchez faces significant pressure as he enters office. Sanchez backed Rajoy on his firm line in defense of the Spanish constitution, which doesn’t permit regions to break away.

Spain’s parliament ousted Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy Friday in a no-confidence vote sparked by fury over his party’s corruption woes, paving the way for a takeover by opposition leader Pedro Sanchez.

“Our “yes” to Sanchez is a “no” to Rajoy”, Mr Tarda said.

The PP then struck back, saying the alternative would be for opposition Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez to head a “Frankenstein government” supported by anti-establishment and regional politicians that would be doomed to failure.

In order to cobble together the support to cast out Rajoy, Sanchez promised to open talks with Torra in order to get the votes he needed from the Catalan pro-secession lawmakers in the national parliament.

Sanchez said on Thursday that, if his party’s motion of no-confidence against Rajoy succeeded, he would resume dialogue with the government of Catalonia.

That issue has dogged Spain for the past eight months.

Critics had long pointed to the grey-bearded, bespectacled 63-year-old as a leader who governs by sitting back – or going on one of his much-loved power walks – and waiting for whichever storm is lashing Spain to blow over.

Last year, gross domestic product growth reached 3.1%.

In October 2016, Mr Sanchez looked finished.

Joins the conservative People’s Alliance (AP), the party founded by ministers of former dictator Francisco Franco, which later becomes the Popular Party (PP).

Spain’s National Court last week fined the party US$287,000 (NZ$411,000) and handed down tough sentences to 29 businesspeople and party officials, including its former treasurer, Luis Barcenas, who received a sentence of 33 years.

In a brief speech before the vote, Rajoy told lawmakers “it has been an honor to leave Spain better than I found it”. The Socialists only have 84 seats – just under a quarter of the total.