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Spanish King to Try to Break Political Deadlock


FILE - Spain's King Felipe VI walks with Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, left, during the annual Pascua Militar Epiphany ceremony at the Royal Palace in Madrid, Spain.
FILE - Spain's King Felipe VI walks with Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, left, during the annual Pascua Militar Epiphany ceremony at the Royal Palace in Madrid, Spain.

Spain's king is meeting Tuesday with political party leaders in a last-resort attempt to break a political deadlock and avoid fresh elections in June.

King Felipe is meeting with leaders of the top four political parties, including Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of the Popular Party and Pedro Sanchez of the Socialist Party, the two top vote-getters in December's election. The leaders will discuss, in turn, whether they have a candidate with enough cross-party support to form a new government.

After the meetings, King Felipe is to report the results to the speaker of parliament. If no candidate can be named by May 2, elections will be held on June 26.

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