Spain's King Felipe has nominated the head of the country Socialist Worker Party, Pedro Sanchez to lead talks with political parties to form a government, the speaker of the lower house Patxi Lopez announced on Tuesday.

Speaking after a brief meeting with the king, Lopez said Sanchez would need at least three weeks before a first parliamentary confidence vote can be organized.

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Under Spain's constitution, a two-month deadline for the formation of a government comes into effect once this first vote takes place. If that deadline expires a new national election is called.

The move come after Conservative acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy turned down an offer by King Felipe earlier in the month to form a new government. Rajoy declined the King’s offer to recommend the Popular Party leader as the first candidate to form a new government after a week of talks between the party and the monarch on the ground that he would not have enough support to win a vote of confidence.

“I thank His Majesty the King for his proposal to present me in the investiture session. I decline because I still do not have the necessary majority,” Rajoy stated.

The right-wing People's Party won the most seats in last month’s election, but with 122 they still fell short of a majority in the 350-seat parliament, followed by the centrist Socialist Party or PSOE with 91 seats. Podemos, a left-wing upstart party with less than two years in existence, came in third in the election with 69 seats.