Spanish PM Sanchez starts talks to form gov't

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez opened talks on Monday with leaders of the country's main political parties in an attempt to form a government in the wake of his Socialist Party's (PSOE) victory in the April 28 general election.

Sanchez met Pablo Casado, leader of the right-wing People's Party (PP), at his official residence in the Palacio de la Moncloa on the outskirts of Madrid.

Government sources told the Spanish national TV network RTVE that the meeting had been "cordial, affable and fluid," and that it was "a first contact aimed at having a normal relationship and that is what it achieved."

After the meeting, Casado (whose party won 66 seats in the election) told the press that he would not aid Sanchez's investiture as prime minister.

"I have a first impression that we are going to have a legislature with a weak government that will have a strong but firm and responsible opposition in the PP," he said.

Sanchez is scheduled to meet with Albert Rivera, leader of the center-right Ciudadanos party, on Tuesday and then with Pablo Iglesias, leader of the left-wing Unidas Podemos party.

The prime minister has not invited the extreme right-wing Vox party, which won 24 seats in the election, to talks.

Although the PSOE won the general election, the party's 123 seats in the 350-seat Congress of Deputies leaves Sanchez well short of the 176 seats needed for an overall majority.

Sanchez's options of forming a government appear to be to either reach an agreement with Ciudadanos --although Ribera had previously stated he will not support Sanchez in power -- or conclude a deal with the left-wing Unidas Podemos, whose leader, Iglesias, has made it clear that he is willing to form a leftist government coalition.

However, the fact that Unidas Podemos won just 42 seats in the election would still leave Sanchez looking for further support among the smaller parties, such as the Basque Nationalist Party, to be able to govern.