Spain PM wins investiture vote

MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- Spanish Prime Minister-elect Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero won an investiture vote in parliament Friday to formally begin a second term in office, two days after losing his investiture bid on the first ballot.

Zapatero is expected to be sworn in Saturday before King Juan Carlos, the head of state, and name his new cabinet soon afterward.

Zapatero won re-election last month with 11 million votes nationwide that gave his Socialist Party 169 seats -- only seven short of a majority in the 350-seat parliament.

He declined to form a coalition or make a permanent deal with smaller parties, and that led to Zapatero's widely-expected defeat Wednesday, when he fell short of the majority necessary to win investiture in parliament on the first ballot.

But the rules changed for the second ballot Friday, requiring only a plurality, which Zapatero achieved with the votes from his own Socialist ranks.

The results Friday were 169 votes in favor, 158 opposed, and 23 abstentions out of 350 votes cast, the speaker of the parliament, Jose Bono, announced.

The main opposition conservative Popular Party, with 154 seats, was the principal opponent on both ballots.

Eight smaller parties, including Basque and Catalan nationalist parties, mainly abstained, but one voted against his investiture on both ballots.

The investiture debate this week pitted Zapatero against the opposition leader, Mariano Rajoy. They sparred verbally on the big issues facing Spain for the next four years: the economic downturn as the housing and real estate boom cools, the fight against the Basque separatist group ETA, and social issues including immigration.

Zapatero, 47, was first elected in March 2004, three days after the Madrid train bombings which killed 191 people. E-mail to a friend

All About Spain • Jose Zapatero • ETA Separatist Group • Mariano Rajoy