2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Post-2016 election developments, Election aftermath
Mariano Rajoy had expected to resume office and hoped that a government could be formed quickly, adding that "It would be nonsense to lose time for several more months". In order to court them in, he made an offer for starting coalition negotiations with both PSOE and C's which the former rejected.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Post-2016 election developments, Election aftermath
With the PSOE in the opposition camp, a hypothetical PP and C's alliance would require the complicated support of regional parties, which C's leader Albert Rivera was unwilling to accept as he stressed that his preferred choice was forming a coalition government with both PP and PSOE without Rajoy at its helm. As this proposal went unheeded, Rivera acknowledged its failure on 4 July and added that his party would go into opposition, forcing the PP to seek out the PSOE's abstention in order to form a minority cabinet.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Post-2016 election developments, Election aftermath
The PSOE ruled out trying to lead government negotiations again and rejected an invitation from Unidos Podemos to do so, with some members instead favouring the party to abstain in Rajoy's investiture in exchange of a series of conditions, with the ultimate goal of preventing a third election in a row. Among those supporting this was former prime minister Felipe González, who nonetheless rejected a grand coalition between both parties and stated that the PSOE had to "take its place as a responsible opposition" and focus on "rebuilding its own project as an alternative". The PSOE leadership disregarding González's statements stated that the party's stance would be to vote against Rajoy's investiture, despite the PP having offered to reach a "minimum deal" to unlock the situation rather than a full-fledged accord.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Post-2016 election developments, First contacts
The PP immediately started probing political parties in search of support for Rajoy's investiture. CCa did not rule out supporting a Rajoy-led cabinet, whereas the PNV demanded a number of conditions such as further devolution for the Basque Country, the recognition of Spain's national diversity and the rehabilitation and reintegration of ETA prisoners, moves which would have meant drastic changes in PP policy. After a meeting with Rajoy on 6 July to discuss this offer, PNV spokesperson Aitor Esteban claimed that they were both "absolutely away" and confirmed that his party would be voting against Rajoy unless a "change of attitude" was perceived.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Post-2016 election developments, First contacts
On 9 July, Pedro Sánchez announced that his party would be voting against Rajoy's investiture, asking the prime minister to look for a parliamentary majority without the PSOE. Unidos Podemos sought to ease the chances for the formation of an alternative government to Rajoy and sought PSOE's support to it but this possibility was rejected by Sánchez, who preferred to go into opposition.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Post-2016 election developments, First contacts
Several PSOE leaders proposed that other parties participate in a "joint abstention" in Rajoy's investiture, appealing to the "collective responsibility of all parties" for the institutional impasse—with the goal of preventing a third general election but, at the same time, avoiding their party bearing the brunt of the responsibility for allowing Rajoy's election—but Unidos Podemos quickly dismissed this proposal as "cowardice". As Rajoy clashed with the PSOE's harsher-than-expected stance towards him, he scheduled a meeting with Pedro Sánchez for 13 July, where the former warned the Socialists that either they gave up and allowed a PP minority government or a third election would be the only way out.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Post-2016 election developments, First contacts
Unidos Podemos and C's leaders Pablo Iglesias and Albert Rivera met Rajoy on 12 July as part of the latter's contacts with political parties. Rivera hinted at being willing to abstain in Rajoy's investiture—initially expected to be held at some point in late July or early August—as an attempt to pressure the PSOE into doing likewise and allowing for a government to be formed, in what was seen as a change in the party's main election pledge not to allow Rajoy to remain in office.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Post-2016 election developments, First contacts
The next day, C's confirmed its change of position and announced that it would be voting against Rajoy in the first ballot of investiture but would abstain in the second ballot, in which Rajoy would only require of a simple majority to be elected.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Post-2016 election developments, First contacts
On the other hand, Iglesias noted Rajoy on Podemos's political project incompatibility with that of the PP and that Rajoy should expect nothing but the frontal opposition of his party to the investiture, while once again urging Sánchez to take the initiative and try to form an alternative government himself as the PSOE had to choose "between Rajoy, a leftist alternative or a new election".


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Post-2016 election developments, First contacts
On 18 July, PP and C's reached an agreement for electing the Congress Bureau and having Patxi López replaced by development minister Ana Pastor as the Speaker, whereas Unidos Podemos planned to have En Comú Podem's spokesperson Xavier Domènech run for the post. As a result, Pastor was elected as new president of the Congress in the second ballot, in which Unidos Podemos's deputies voted for López as a political gesture, and owing to the regionalist and nationalist parties in the chamber having chosen to cast blank ballots rather than supporting any one of the main candidates.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Post-2016 election developments, First contacts
The election of the Congress Bureau—which was conducted through secret ballot—would see some controversy as a result of the composition designed by PP and Cs being supported by an additional 10 votes of unknown origin, which resulted in the PP's candidate for the Congress's third vice presidency, Rosa Romero, being elected over Podemos's candidate Gloria Elizo. As PSOE and Podemos had each voted for their own candidates without any missing ballots, both parties accused the PDeCAT and PNV from having surreptitiously lent their votes to the PP to ensure that Elizo was not elected.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), Rajoy's acceptance
On 28 July, the King tasked Mariano Rajoy with forming a government, which the latter accepted without clarifying whether he would actually submit himself to an investiture vote. The PSOE, PDeCAT and PNV, which were in the spotlight because of them being the likeliest arithmetical choices for allowing a minority PP government, announced their intention to oppose Rajoy's investiture.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), Rajoy's acceptance
C's leader Albert Rivera, who had initially shown an unwillingness to move from his party's position of abstaining, announced on 9 August that he would be willing to consider negotiating a "Yes" in Rajoy's investiture in exchange of a number of conditions, one immediate—that a date was set for the investiture to take place—and other six that were to be enforced in the first three months of government, namely: that those accused of political corruption were separated from public offices, the approval of a legal reform removing immunities from public officers, electoral reform, the suppression of pardons in cases of political corruption, that a two-term limit was set for the prime minister and that a parliamentary committee was set up to investigate the ongoing PP corruption scandals.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), Rajoy's acceptance
Earlier, PP officials had stated that they were willing to offer "anything" but Rajoy's permanence to C's in exchange for their support in the investiture and welcomed Rivera's new stance. Rajoy himself stated that his party would study Rivera's conditions and would give an answer after a meeting of the PP executive committee the following week.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), Rajoy's acceptance
On 17 August, Rajoy announced his willingness to hold negotiation talks with C's but initially ignored Rivera's conditions, instead scheduling a meeting between the two leaders the following day to discuss them. This ultimately led to Rajoy accepting all seven conditions and in both parties agreeing to start negotiations, but warning that even with the support of both of them and CCa—with whom the PP was maintaining talks—the 170 votes they would muster would still not be enough to overcome the predicted 180 negative votes from all other parties combined.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), Rajoy's acceptance
The investiture debate was set to start on 30 August, with the first and second rounds of voting scheduled for 31 August and 2 September; this would mean that, in the event of Rajoy failing to secure the required support to be elected, the parliament's dissolution date would be automatically set for 31 October and a new election scheduled for Christmas Day, 25 December 2016.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), Rajoy's acceptance
Both PP and C's tried to use the possibility of a third election as leverage to increase political pressure on PSOE leader Pedro Sánchez, calling for him to choose whether he wanted people to "go out to vote on 25 December" or to choose "a responsible abstention that allows government formation".


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), Negotiations and PP–C's pact
Negotiations between the PP and C's started on 22 August with early advances on economic issues, but the PP's initial aim to try to persuade C's into a government coalition failed over the latter's reluctance, disagreements in labour affairs and the little time left before the investiture debate.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), Negotiations and PP–C's pact
C's came under criticism after it transpired that the party had accepted redefining the crime of political corruption by limiting it to cases of illegal personal enrichment or irregular funding, in what was seen as a major concession from Rivera's party at a time when many PP members were involved in a number of corruption scandals and the party itself was placed under judicial investigation. On 24 August, C's members recognized that negotiations were tough and that they were "worried" in what they perceived as "a lack of political will [from the PP] to undertake reforms".


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), Negotiations and PP–C's pact
The next day, C's announced a 48-hour ultimatum to the PP for an agreement to be reached as negotiations had come to a standstill, demanding the PP commit itself to specific reforms and to clarify spending figures. From that point, negotiations between the two parties resumed, even if "insufficient at times" according to C's.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), Negotiations and PP–C's pact
On 28 August, a deal was struck between PP and C's, with separate negotiations between PP and CCa also leading to the latter to support Rajoy's investiture.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), Negotiations and PP–C's pact
The PP–C's accord contained 150 programmatic measures to be applied on the condition that Rajoy was re-elected as prime minister, which included a number of social measures (such as the equalization and extension of parental leaves, a guaranteed salary commitment for families with lower incomes, increased spending on Education, Health and Dependency and a €5.68 billion plan against child poverty); recovery of lost money through the 2012 fiscal amnesty by raising the tax payment from the final 3% to the initially scheduled 10%—resulting in a predicted gain worth €2.8 billion; a new labour reform providing for three types of contracts (one indefinite, one "of increasing protection" for coverage of fixed-term jobs and another for employees "in training"); depoliticization of the judiciary through the direct election of 12 out of 20 members in the CGPJ by judges and magistrates; reduction of spending for provincial deputations and the Senate; an unspecified reform of the electoral municipal law to directly elect mayors; a number of compromises on taxes (such as not raising PIT, a lowering of culture VAT limited to live entertainment, a reform of the corporate tax to remove deductions to large companies and removal of the 'Sun Tax', applied to systems that used batteries to store the sun's power). The accord also included 100 proposals that had been present in the defunct PSOE–C's deal in an attempt to court the Socialists into allowing the investiture to pass, but this was to be of little avail as Sánchez's stance remained unchanged.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), Negotiations and PP–C's pact
Podemos criticized the accord and accused Rivera of "selling himself out for free" to Rajoy, claiming the PP was using C's "like chewing gum to plug their holes". On the other hand, the PNV assured their stance would remain opposite to Rajoy's election, both before and after the Basque regional election scheduled for 25 September; whereas the PDeCAT saw the signed accord as "anti-Catalan" and maintained its opposition as well, noting to both PP and C's that they still lacked the votes to pass the investiture. Rajoy stated that he would "keep trying" despite acknowledging that the ultimate choice on whether he would end up becoming prime minister was dependent on the PSOE.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), Second investiture attempt
Mariano Rajoy's investiture debate started on 30 August at 16:00 CEST (UTC+2) with Rajoy's speech, to be followed the next day by the replies of all other parties and the first round of voting; if necessary, a second and final round was scheduled for 2 September.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), Second investiture attempt
Pedro Sánchez kept his opposition to allowing the PP into government in a debate which, nonetheless, revolved on the ongoing discussions within the PSOE on what its stance would be following Rajoy's failed investiture attempt. In a reversal of the roles in Sánchez's failed investiture in March, the PSOE leader wanted to convey a harsh stance to Rajoy's election by assuring he would never allow it to happen, without clarifying whether he would try to explore an alternative himself.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), Second investiture attempt
Rajoy mockingly undervalued Sánchez's reasons to vote against him before asking Sánchez to just "let him govern", dismissing any possible alternative government to his as unworkable. Pablo Iglesias called out for Sánchez to "make up his mind" and to agree on exploring a joint government "despite the enormous differences, grievances and mutual mistrust between the PSOE and Podemos", as Podemos would be "a trustworthy partner against the PP"—pointing out to C's having abandoned him to support Rajoy—but also told him that "if [his] personal bet is on a third election, [he] should openly say so".


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), Second investiture attempt
Albert Rivera defended his pact out of the convenience to unlock the parliamentary deadlock while warning Rajoy that his party "still did not trust him", but that it would rather "demand, enforce and oversee the doings of those who have to govern" and called out for Sánchez to not being an obstacle for the country's governability, inviting him to "enforce laws from opposition". Neither Rivera nor Rajoy did an enthusiastic defense of their accord—with the latter even claiming that it would not "go down in history"—rather defending it out of the need to have a fully functional government as soon as possible.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), Second investiture attempt
With 170 votes in favour and 180 against, Rajoy became the first caretaker prime minister to by defeated in an investiture ballot on 31 August, and again with the same result in the second round on 2 September. PP and C's clashed after Rivera suggested to end their accord if the PP did not propose "another, more electable candidate" instead of Rajoy, with Rajoy's party recriminating Rivera that "we do not sign agreement for 15 minutes". Meanwhile, Pedro Sánchez ambiguously hinted that he could attempt to lead an alternative government himself without clarifying how would he set it up. After the failed investiture, the parties refrained from any new negotiation attempts until after the Basque and Galician elections scheduled for 25 September, with the King not holding any new round of talks until after that date in order to avoid interfering with the electoral campaigns.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), PSOE crisis and Sánchez's ouster
Internal criticism of PSOE secretary-general Pedro Sánchez for his hardline stance on Rajoy's investiture—said to be a contributing factor to the political deadlock—had been kept at bay by the party's performances in the 2015 and 2016 general elections, where despite securing its two worst election results since 1977 the party held its own against Podemos's push, averting the threats from Sánchez's critics—who had hoped to hold him to account for a hypothetical electoral collapse—from materializing.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), PSOE crisis and Sánchez's ouster
However, the poor party showing in the 25 September Basque and Galician regional elections provided the pretext for dissenters—led by Susana Díaz—to call for Sánchez's immediate resignation the next day, to which the latter replied by surprisingly announcing a primary election for October and daring any challenger to come out and despite the post to him. The internal movement within the PSOE were seen positively by Rajoy, who was said to be "waiting for the PSOE to kill off Sánchez" in the hopes that a new leadership could lead the party to reconsider its abstention in a new investiture voting.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), PSOE crisis and Sánchez's ouster
On 27 September, signs of a breakdown in party discipline became evident: the leader of Sánchez's critics and Andalusian president Susana Díaz publicly voiced her willingness at becoming the party's new secretary-general, with a majority of members within the party's parliamentary group in the Congress of Deputies voicing their opposition to Sánchez's plans of holding an express leadership election amid the ongoing government formation process and with a general election looming for December.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), PSOE crisis and Sánchez's ouster
Former Socialist prime minister Felipe González added to the pressure by declaring that he felt "deceived" by Sánchez because of the latter having allegedly promised him to abstain in Rajoy's investiture. This led to the resignation of 17 out of the 35 members from the party's executive committee on 28 September, in a move aimed at triggering Sánchez's own resignation. Sánchez refused to resign, prompting the party to descend into chaos.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), PSOE crisis and Sánchez's ouster
Sánchez barricaded himself within the party's headquarters in Madrid and accused rebels of "staging a coup", whereas his critics proclaimed that they were now in control and demanded a caretaker committee to lead the party in the interim. Susana Díaz criticized Sánchez's record and accused him of seeking a congress "out of personal interest", offering herself to unite the party and hold a leadership election "in due course" once the political deadlock in Spain had been resolved.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), PSOE crisis and Sánchez's ouster
Further chaos ensued within a meeting of the party's federal committee on 1 October, as disagreements between the two factions on the assembly's agenda and voting census delayed its start by several hours. Sánchez repeatedly blocked Díaz's attempts to hold a vote on his post as the two sides failed to agree on the committee's purpose, with him trying to force a secret ballot on his proposal for a party congress that was suspended amid accusations of vote rigging by critics because of the ballot box being "hidden" and "unsupervised".


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), PSOE crisis and Sánchez's ouster
This action was said to have cost Sánchez the support of some of his allies, and in a subsequent voting on Sánchez's proposal turned into a vote of confidence on him—this time by a show of hands—he lost it by 132 to 107, prompting him to resign as PSOE secretary-general and allowing Díaz's supporters to take over the shattered party.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), PSOE crisis and Sánchez's ouster
Reactions to Pedro Sánchez's resignation were mixed. Pablo Iglesias commented that "supporters of a PP government have gained the upper hand within the PSOE" and called for opponents to Sánchez's ouster to rally behind Podemos as the only remaining leftist alternative in Spain to a Rajoy-led government, whereas Albert Rivera praised Susana Díaz's move and called for the PSOE to "help form a government".


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), PSOE crisis and Sánchez's ouster
With the rebel faction taking over the party, political relations with Podemos were expected to strain, as Sánchez's critics had considered an abstention in a potential forthcoming vote on Rajoy's investiture as the only way out of the deadlock and to avoid a third general election in a row.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), PSOE crisis and Sánchez's ouster
Concurrently, the party's fracture shutted down any possibility of an alternative government to the PP's one being formed, and left it at the mercy of Mariano Rajoy, who subsequently began to push for conditions himself in exchange for avoiding a third election which the PSOE could not afford in its current state.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), PSOE crisis and Sánchez's ouster
President of Asturias Javier Fernández was appointed to chair the caretaker committee that would lead the party in the ensuing months. He acknowledged that the PSOE had to decide whether to abstain on Rajoy's investiture or risk a third election being held, aware that a revolt could break out within the party's parliamentary group if they opted to allow Rajoy to govern.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), PSOE crisis and Sánchez's ouster
Despite internal discontent from a number of MPs who refused to be held responsible for the formation of a new PP government, as well as threats from the Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC)—PSOE's sister party in Catalonia—to break party discipline, Fernández maintained that deputies would not be allowed a free vote, whereas Susana Díaz's PSOE–A called for the parliamentary group to vote as a bloc according to the decision taken in a new federal committee that was scheduled for 23 October, suggesting that MPs refusing to abide by such decision should resign their seats.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), PSOE crisis and Sánchez's ouster
As opinion polls conducted after the party crisis indicated a fall in support for PSOE, advocates of abstention argued that the question was no longer whether Rajoy would become prime minister again, but whether he would be elected "now" or after a third election predicted to result in a landslide win for the PP. The party's caretaker leadership was confident of being able to win the argument in favour of abstention, but they were also concerned that this move would widen the existing divisions within the party.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), PSOE crisis and Sánchez's ouster
Finally, the party's federal committee voted on 23 October to abstain unconditionally once the Congress considered Rajoy's candidacy for a second time, but some deputies declared that they would not abide by the committee's decision and would oppose Rajoy's investiture nonetheless. King Felipe VI scheduled a new round of talks for 24 and 25 October, ahead of 31 October deadline, with a new investiture hearing set for 26–29 October upon confirmation that Rajoy had sufficient support to win the vote.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), PSOE crisis and Sánchez's ouster
Calls from some PSOE members for Fernández to allow a "minimum abstention" of just eleven MPs were rejected by the party's interim leadership, as a growing dispute between the PSOE and the PSC over the issue endangered the political alliance existing between the two parties since 1978, as the former also threatened any rebels with outright expulsion from the parliamentary group.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), PSOE crisis and Sánchez's ouster
Still, and despite threats of retaliation, a total of 18 MPs had indicated by 25 October that they were willing to vote against Rajoy regardless of any consequences, with a further three considering it "because of the threats made by the management committee's". The PSC formally ratified their intention to vote against Rajoy's investiture later that day, to which the PSOE replied by warning that such a decision would represent "a unilateral breach" of the relationship between the two parties.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), Third investiture attempt
A new investiture session began on 26 October at 18:00 CEST (UTC+2) with the speech from Mariano Rajoy in the Congress of Deputies, to be followed on 27 October by the replies from the other parties, a first round of voting later that day and, if necessary, a second round scheduled for 29 October. Rajoy's speech praised the PSOE's new stance on his investiture and called on them to maintain their "responsibility" ahead of future agreement between the two parties that ensured political stability. Antonio Hernando, PSOE's spokesperson in Congress, justified their abstention by citing the country's need for a government after months of deadlock, but reiterating that his party still did not trust Rajoy and promising to provide a strong opposition to his policies regardless.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), Third investiture attempt
Pablo Iglesias harshly condemned the PSOE's decision to allow Rajoy's investiture, suggesting that it heralded the effective end of the two-party system that had dominated Spanish politics since the adoption of the 1978 Constitution and accusing Rajoy of having sacrificed turnismo—in reference to the historical rotation of PP and PSOE in power—by "bumping off" the PSOE and relegating it to a mere PP "crutch" in order to save himself and his party. Iglesias also declared that Unidos Podemos would be the main force of opposition against the alleged "triple alliance" of PP, PSOE and C's that supported Rajoy.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), Third investiture attempt
Concurrently, and despite having announced the end of his pact with PP after the previous investiture debate in early September, Albert Rivera pledged to repeat his party's affirmative vote for Mariano Rajoy's investiture in exchange for the agreed reforms and to put an end to the political deadlock, while also condemning Iglesias's support of the street protests taking place outside the Congress in protest against the PSOE's abstention.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), Third investiture attempt
The debate was also notable for being the first public appearance of Pedro Sánchez since his resignation as the PSOE's secretary-general, as he kept his seat in Congress and attended the investiture session; asked about his stance in the two rounds of voting, he confirmed that he would be voting "no" in Thursday's ballot—in which the PSOE was expected to symbolically oppose Rajoy—but did not disclose his intentions ahead of Saturday's ballot, when his party would abstain. Sánchez and his supporters within the Socialist parliamentary group did not applaud Hernando's speech, describing it as "disappointing", whereas some of those critical of the PSOE's new direction commented that they risked losing the leadership of the opposition to Podemos following Iglesias's speech.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), Third investiture attempt
As scheduled, Mariano Rajoy lost the first ballot on 27 October by 180 to 170, with the PSOE abstention having been inconsequential at that time since an absolute majority was required to succeed in the ballot. Attention then turned to Saturday's second and final ballot; of particular interest were the extent of the PSOE's parliamentary schism and Sánchez's final voting position, with close aides suggesting that he would not abstain.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), Third investiture attempt
Ultimately, a visibly emotional Sánchez announced his resignation as deputy a few hours ahead of the scheduled vote, arguing that he could neither abstain—which would have meant breaking his electoral pledge of opposing a PP government—or, as a former PSOE leader, set a negative precedent by disobeying the decision of the highest party governing body, the federal committee, while hinting at the possibility of that he may run in a future party leadership election.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), Third investiture attempt
On 29 October, Mariano Rajoy succeeded in his investiture attempt with the support of 170 MPs to 111 against and 68 abstentions, thus ending the 10-month political deadlock. Fifteen PSOE deputies chose to break party discipline and vote against Rajoy in spite of the possible consequences threatened by the party's interim leadership. During the investiture debate, thousands gathered outside Congress to protest against what they described as a "coup", shouting slogans against both PP and PSOE, with some protestors describing the new government as "illegitimate" in view of it being born out of a political U-turn.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Second formation round (June–October 2016), Candidate Mariano Rajoy (PP), Third investiture attempt
Rajoy reiterated his wish for "a government that was able to govern", calling for those parties facilitating his election—PSOE and C's—to ensure the parliamentary stability of his cabinet through confidence and supply, whereas Iglesias attacked the Socialists for their "capitulation" and claimed for himself and his party the "hegemony of opposition" to the PP government.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Aftermath
Spain's 313-day political stalemate ended with Mariano Rajoy's election as Prime Minister, after a period which saw some of the most dramatic political upheaval since the country's return to democracy: two inconclusive general elections, two failed investiture attempts, Podemos and United Left teaming up together, Pedro Sánchez's ouster as Spanish Socialist Workers' Party leader and his party torn apart by internal strife as it allowed the formation of a right-wing government for the first time in its history.


2015–2016 Spanish government formation, Aftermath
Following the successful investiture and on the eve of the establishment of the second government of Mariano Rajoy, in an exclusive interview for laSexta's Salvados news show, Pedro Sánchez publicly accused his party's apparatus—led by Susana Díaz—and "financial powers", including media outlet El País, of having coerced him into avoiding a left-wing pact with Podemos and nationalist parties throughout the entire government formation process, revealing they triggered the internal revolt within PSOE to oust him once he considered a serious attempt at forming such a government and after repeatedly opposing to allow a PP government to form.


2015–2016 United Kingdom renegotiation of European Union membership
The 2015-16 United Kingdom renegotiation of European Union membership was an unimplemented non-binding package of changes to the United Kingdom's terms of its European Union (EU) membership and changes to EU rules which was first proposed by Prime Minister David Cameron in January 2013, with negotiations beginning in the summer of 2015 following the outcome of the UK General Election.


2015–2016 United Kingdom renegotiation of European Union membership
The package was agreed by the President of the European Council Donald Tusk, and approved by EU leaders of all 27 other countries at the European Council session in Brussels on 18–19 February 2016 between the United Kingdom and the rest of the European Union. The changes were intended to take effect following a vote for "Remain" in the UK's in-out referendum in June 2016, at which point suitable legislative proposals would be presented by the European Commission. Due to the Leave result of the referendum, the changes were never implemented.


2015–2016 United Kingdom renegotiation of European Union membership
The renegotiated terms were in addition to the United Kingdom's existing opt-outs in the European Union and the UK rebate. The changes were legally binding insomuch as the intentions and statements made by the EU leaders were enshrined in an international treaty. The implementation of some of the changes would have required legislation by the European Parliament or treaty change within the EU and so the details may have altered, although it would be hard for the European Commission or the European Parliament to directly defy national governments.


2015–2016 United Kingdom renegotiation of European Union membership
After the deal had been approved, Cameron described it as giving the United Kingdom "special status within the European Union" and immediately declared that both he and the UK Government would campaign for a "Remain" vote in the referendum within a "reformed European Union". The following day, after a special meeting of the cabinet, Cameron announced that the in-out referendum would be held on 23 June 2016 under the provisions of the European Union Referendum Act 2015 which had already been agreed by the UK Parliament.


2015–2016 United Kingdom renegotiation of European Union membership
On 23 June 2016 the United Kingdom, on a national turnout of 72 per cent, voted by 51.9 per cent to 48.1 per cent to leave the European Union and indirectly reject the terms of the new agreement.


2015–2016 United Kingdom renegotiation of European Union membership
The result received a variety of different reactions internationally and began the process of leaving by invoking Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union on 29 March 2017, and after three extensions to the Article 50 process on 31 January 2020 at 23:00 GMT in accordance with the result of the referendum the United Kingdom became the first EU member state to formally leave the bloc, ending 47 years of membership.


2015–2016 United Kingdom renegotiation of European Union membership, Emergency brake
The so-called "emergency brake mechanism" would have allowed member countries to limit access to in-work benefits for new EU immigrants. This would have needed the agreement of the European Parliament and the UK would need the agreement a majority of other governments through approval in the Foreign Affairs Council (of Member States).


2015–2016 United Kingdom renegotiation of European Union membership, Emergency brake
Under current rules, other EU citizens can ultimately claim most of the same benefits as a UK national. Some of the benefits are subject to a test on "Right to Reside" for which EU citizens will almost certainly qualify. Most benefits also require Habitual Residence which means that for the most EU Citizens they will have to wait three months before claiming Jobseeker's Allowance, Child benefit or Child tax credit.


2015–2016 United Kingdom renegotiation of European Union membership, Emergency brake
Under the emergency brake (which needs first to be established in EU law), the European Council (of national Heads of Government) could have authorised a country that is experiencing migrant flows of "exceptional magnitude" to restrict benefits for new migrants for four years (with migrants starting with no entitlement then gradually gaining rights to benefits). These restrictions could be kept in place for up to seven years but could be used only once. In this case "established in EU law" means the EU Commission proposing draft legislation for approval by the European Parliament. Subsequently, member states [but specifically the UK] could have requested and applied it to migrants reasonably quickly, with the Commission already expressing that they believed the UK would be justified in doing so.


2015–2016 United Kingdom renegotiation of European Union membership, The "Red Card"
The "red card" would have allowed a member of the Council of the European Union with the support of 15 other members to return a recommendation to the European Parliament for further changes. This is not a veto as EU politicians could still go ahead if they judge that they have addressed the concerns raised by the "red card", which is named after the penalty card used in football.


2015–2016 United Kingdom renegotiation of European Union membership, The "Red Card"
Cameron backed the "red card" as a means to support the EU's principle of subsidiarity, which he believed was not fully realised. In this way the "red card" is intended for groups of countries to block or reform EU rules where they think it is their job, rather than that of the EU, to make laws on a particular subject. The "red card" would have joined the existing "yellow card" (which has been triggered twice) and the "orange card" (which has never been used). The use of the "red card" would have required the backing of 55% of governments at the Council, which is slightly less than is required to approve directives – which is 55% of all countries and votes representing 65% of the EU's population.


2015–2016 United Kingdom renegotiation of European Union membership, Deporting EU migrants
Free movement of people is an important tenet of the European Union and enshrined in primary law in treaties. The EU deal would have subtly changed the free movement rules to make it easier for countries to deport migrants from other EU countries. This would have been achieved by "beefing up" the exceptions to the general rule that EU citizens can live and work where they choose in the EU.


2015–2016 United Kingdom renegotiation of European Union membership, Deporting EU migrants
National governments have a carefully restricted ability to restrict the free movement of people about the EU. Once a citizen lives in another EU country the threshold of reason for the local government to remove them becomes progressively higher. The changes planned in the EU-deal were subtle changes of wording to permit governments to take in to account where migrants' behaviour is "likely" to represent a threat, rather than that it "does", and would have allowed governments to take in to more account a person's past behaviour rather than just their present behaviour.


2015–2016 United Kingdom renegotiation of European Union membership, Deporting EU migrants
The consensus from the EU leadership is that the planned changes would have given nations more power to deport criminals and prevent their return but not necessarily restrict movement for other reasons.


2015–2016 United Kingdom renegotiation of European Union membership, Child benefit
The deal would have made no changes to the principle that child benefit should be paid to citizens no matter where their children reside. However following the deal governments would have been able be able to adjust the payment they make to reflect the standard of living in the country the child lives and the amount of child benefit that would normally be paid in that country.


2015–2016 United Kingdom renegotiation of European Union membership, Child benefit
Although many people have questioned the idea of paying child benefit for children living in other countries, it is a logical consequence of the EU's principal of non-discrimination – as migrants are more likely to have children in another country and would therefore be discriminated against by restricting those benefits. If the changes to law had been passed to reflect this agreed change it would have been up to the Court of Justice to clarify if it is legal or there are any unintended consequences if it was subsequently challenged.


2015–2016 United Kingdom renegotiation of European Union membership, "Ever closer union"
In the EU deal there was a statement specifically exempting the UK from "ever closer union". The precise phrasing of the aspiration, which was in the preamble of the EU's founding treaty and every treaty since is "ever closer union of the peoples [of Europe]". The phrase has symbolic political status but it has little or no legal effect in any of the treaties and thus UK's exemption from it is equally symbolic. The deal explicitly said that the presence of the "ever closer union" phrase in the treaties does not of itself grant the EU any specific competences or powers.


2015–2016 United Kingdom renegotiation of European Union membership, The UK and the Eurozone
The EU deal attempted to reassure non-Eurozone countries including the UK, that decisions would not be made favouring Eurozone members over them. There would have been a system for non-Eurozone members to object to rules being passed that might harm them but it will not give them a legal opt-out. However EU law already bans discrimination so this would have been merely an additional protection.


2015–2016 United Kingdom renegotiation of European Union membership, The UK and the Eurozone
Along with Denmark the UK had an opt-out to the 1992 Maastricht Treaty which means they were not technically obliged to join the Euro.


2015–2016 United Kingdom renegotiation of European Union membership, The UK and the Eurozone
Prior to this EU deal there was concern that Eurozone members may discuss matters of the EU and single market separate to the wider membership and therefore come up with a deal they could theoretically impose on non-Eurozone countries. In the Council, Eurozone members would have sufficient majority to pass directives if they wished, although those proposals would need to be proposed and drafter by the Commission first and also approved by the European Parliament.


2015–2016 United Kingdom renegotiation of European Union membership, The UK and the Eurozone
In addition to specifically banning such discrimination it also contained a statement of intent that any measures for "economic and monetary union" will be voluntary for non-Eurozone countries, and that those countries will not stand in the way of such measures for those in the Eurozone. For example, non-Eurozone countries will not be required to contribute to bailouts for Eurozone countries.


2015–2016 United Kingdom renegotiation of European Union membership, Limiting residence rights for family members
The European Parliament intends to bring forward legislation to change EU law to limit the ability of a non-EU national to gain the right to live and work anywhere in the EU (including the UK) by becoming the spouse of an EU citizen. There has been some back-and-forth on the matter in the European Court of Justice with existing laws being inconclusive. This change to the law, if approved, should clarify the matter. The changes to the law could still be challenged in both the EU Court of Justice and the Court of Human Rights (which is not an EU institution).


2015–2016 United Kingdom renegotiation of European Union membership, Limiting residence rights for family members
This change in law is not intended to deal with deliberate abuses of the immigration policy (sham marriages) for which existing tools exist.


2015–2016 United Kingdom renegotiation of European Union membership, Legal status and enforcement
The EU deal would have been international law, as it was made by European heads of government acting outside the structure of the EU. The UK intended to register it as such. This would have meant that statements and intentions made within it cannot be challenged by the Court of Justice. However, certain aspects of it would need treaty change within the EU and certain elements would need legislation to become part of EU law. The Commission had already indicated its intention to bring the legislative requirements to the EU Council and Parliament for passage. Cameron stated that he had lodged the documents with the United Nations.


2015–2016 United Kingdom renegotiation of European Union membership, Outcome
On 27 June 2016, David Cameron said in his statement to the House of Commons on the result of the referendum to "Leave the European Union": "The deal we negotiated at the European Council in February will now be discarded and a new negotiation to leave the EU will begin under a new Prime Minister."


2015–2016 University of Missouri protests
In 2015, a series of protests at the University of Missouri related to race, workplace benefits, and leadership resulted in the resignations of the president of the University of Missouri System and the chancellor of the flagship Columbia campus. The moves came after a series of events that included a hunger strike by a student and a boycott by the football team. The movement was primarily led by a student group named Concerned Student 1950. The movement and protests were documented in two films, one made by MU student journalists and the other, 2 Fists Up, by Spike Lee. While it is alleged that bad publicity from the protests has led to dropping enrollment and cutbacks, others have cited budget cuts issued from the state legislature.


2015–2016 University of Missouri protests, Background
In 2010, two white students dropped cotton balls in front of the Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center. They were arrested and charged with tampering, which is a felony, and which was prosecuted as a hate crime based on evocation of the historical slur "cotton picker" to describe enslaved or sharecropping blacks. The prosecutor asked for them to serve 120 days in jail, but they were eventually only convicted of littering, which is a misdemeanor, and sentenced to probation and community service, with no jail time. In 2011 a student was given probation for racially charged graffiti in a student dormitory. The events led to the creation of a diversity initiative called "One Mizzou" under MU chancellor Brady Deaton. This initiative was discontinued in 2015 owing to concerns that it had lost its meaning.


2015–2016 University of Missouri protests, Background
On September 12, 2015, a Facebook post by the student government president Payton Head described bigotry and anti-gay sentiment around the college campus, which gained widespread attention. He claimed that in an incident off campus, unidentified people in the back of a passing pickup truck directed racial slurs at him. "For those of you who wonder why I'm always talking about the importance of inclusion and respect, it's because I've experienced moments like this multiple times at THIS university, making me not feel included here." Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin called the incident "totally unacceptable" on September 17.


2015–2016 University of Missouri protests, Background, Protests
The first student protests occurred on September 24, 2015, at an event called "Racism Lives Here," where protesters claimed nothing had been done to address Head's concerns. On October 1, a second "Racism Lives Here" event was held with 40–50 participants.


2015–2016 University of Missouri protests, Background, Protests
An incident involving a drunken student on October 4 gave rise to more racial tensions. While an African-American student group, the Legion of Black Collegians, was preparing for Homecoming activities, a white student walked on stage and was asked to leave. Supposedly, while departing the premises the student said, "These niggers are getting aggressive with me", according to the LBC. This prompted chancellor Loftin, traveling outside the US, to record a video message in response and to release a statement that said, "Racism and all prejudice is heinous, insidious and damaging to Mizzou... That is why all of us must commit to changing the culture at this university." Later that month, the student group "Concerned Student 1950" was created, referring to the first year the University of Missouri admitted black students.


2015–2016 University of Missouri protests, Background, Protests
On October 24, a police officer responding to a property damage complaint reported that an unknown vandal had smeared feces in the shape of a swastika on a bathroom wall in a dorm on campus. The university's Department of Residential Life filed photographs of the fecal smear in a hate crime incident report, and the residential life director emailed a number of people on campus, including a Hillel organization, to request information about anti-Semitic activity on campus. The investigator in the university's Title IX office, noted in an email that the swastika may have been "meant to offend and threaten a larger population of our campus community in addition to Jewish students".


2015–2016 University of Missouri protests, Background, Protests
On November 3, student Jonathan Butler launched a hunger strike, vowing not to eat until the president resigned. One of Butler's stated reasons for this was that Timothy Wolfe's car had hit him during a protest against Wolfe at the school's homecoming parade. Students confronted the president by linking arms in front of his vehicle. The car revved its engine and following this Butler was bumped. No police charges were filed in connection to the incident.


2015–2016 University of Missouri protests, Background, Protests
His statement said, "Mr. Wolfe had ample opportunity to create policies and reform that could shift the culture of Mizzou in a positive direction but in each scenario he failed to do so." Butler later cited his participation in the Ferguson protests against the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown as a major influence for his action.


2015–2016 University of Missouri protests, Background, Protests
On November 7, with hundreds of prospective students flooding Mizzou's campus for the university's recruiting day, student protesters intervened with a "mock tour" where they recited racist incidents that occurred at MU beginning in 2010 with the dispersion of cotton balls on the lawn of the Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center along with more recentevents such as the use of racial epithets against two young women of color outside of the MU Student Recreation Complex.


2015–2016 University of Missouri protests, Background, Protests
On November 8, university football players announced they would not practice or play until Wolfe resigned, potentially costing the university a $1 million fine if they had to forfeit an upcoming game against Brigham Young University. The Southeastern Conference Football Commissioner issued a statement saying, "I respect Missouri's student-athletes for engaging on issues of importance and am hopeful the concerns at the center of this matter will be resolved in a positive manner." The Mizzou Athletics Department previously indicated that it fully supported the players' actions.


2015–2016 University of Missouri protests, Background, Protests
The protests attracted widespread local, regional, and national news media attention. Some protesters said the coverage was impacted by journalists' lack of previous race-related experience, reliance on scripted behaviors, and desire to cover the event as "outsiders looking in."


2015–2016 University of Missouri protests, Background, Loss of health insurance for grad students
One of Butler's reasons for his hunger strike was "graduate students being robbed of their health insurance". In August 2015, the university had issued a statement to graduate students that said, "The Affordable Care Act prevents employers from giving employees money specifically so they can buy health insurance on the individual market. Graduate teaching and research assistants are classified as employees by the IRS, so they fall under this ruling." The university had known about the Affordable Care Act concerns since July 21, but put off communicating with graduate students until announcing on August 14 that subsidies would be cut, the day before graduate health insurance plans were set to expire.


2015–2016 University of Missouri protests, Resignations
Wolfe issued a statement on November 8 implying that he would not step down and that he was "dedicated to ongoing dialogue to address these very complex, societal issues as they affect our campus community".


2015–2016 University of Missouri protests, Resignations
On November 9, however, Wolfe announced his resignation. Later that day Chancellor Loftin announced he would resign at the end of 2015 to take a research role at the University. His departure was hastened by the Board of Curators on November 11, who passed his responsibility to Interim Chancellor Hank Foley. His departure was initially assumed to be related to the protests. However, unlike Wolfe, student protesters had not requested that he step down. His resignation was the congruence of several issues raised by administrators and faculty, who were displeased with his leadership style, dismissal of administrators, and management of several campus incidents of racism and graduate health insurance subsidies that were allowed to lapse under his leadership.


2015–2016 University of Missouri protests, Resignations
The days after the resignation announcement resulted in some confusion, cancelled classes and reports of threats and suspicious activity. On the evening of November 10, there were reports of vehicles and unidentified individuals around campus posing a threat.


2015–2016 University of Missouri protests, Rolla arrest
A computer science and math student at Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla confessed during his arrest to making a hoax threat to the university. An account with the same username on Reddit bragged that he had "trolled" Mizzou.


2015–2016 University of Missouri protests, Reactions, Melissa Click incident
Soon after the announcement of the resignations, there was a widely publicized dispute between student photojournalist Tim Tai, on a freelance assignment for ESPN, and protesters on Carnahan Quad where they had erected an encampment. While attempting to cover the event, Tai got into a dispute with, and was physically confronted by, students and those who would later be identified as University of Missouri staff and faculty, including untenured communication professor Melissa Click. Click first appeared to attempt to grab Tai's camera, and then to threaten Tai, yelling "Who wants to help me get this reporter out of here?


2015–2016 University of Missouri protests, Reactions, Melissa Click incident
I need some muscle over here." Other staff who interfered with Tai's attempts to photograph the scene included Janna Basler, the university's assistant director of Greek life and leadership, and Richard J. "Chip" Callahan, professor and chair of religious studies. Video of the incident where Tai debated First Amendment rights to be in the public area was recorded by student Kayla Schierbecker and became widely distributed and commented on in the mainstream media.


2015–2016 University of Missouri protests, Reactions, Melissa Click incident
The day after the incident, with Tai getting support from the Missouri Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder and others, Concerned Student 1950 passed out fliers calling the confrontation between journalists and protesters a "Teachable Moment" and directing the students to welcome the media to campus as a way to tell the story of the protests. The student group also removed signs previously put up warning the media to stay away from the student encampments. Three University of Missouri employees involved in the altercation subsequently apologized, one of them, Melissa Click, resigning from her courtesy appointment at the Missouri School of Journalism. On January 25, 2016, Click was charged with misdemeanor assault linked to her behavior during the incident and accepted community service in exchange for dismissal of the charges.


2015–2016 University of Missouri protests, Reactions, Melissa Click incident
As of January 5, 2016, more than 100 faculty members had signed a letter in defense of Click. Several faculty members wrote letters of support to local and national news outlets.


2015–2016 University of Missouri protests, Reactions, Melissa Click incident
In a new video obtained by the Columbia Missourian in February 2016, Click was shown shouting a profanity at police officers as they attempted to clear protesting students from a road at the homecoming parade. Click defended her actions, saying that she was sorry for her language, but that she was also sorry she had to put herself between the police and the students in order to protect the students.


2015–2016 University of Missouri protests, Reactions, Melissa Click incident
Also in February, MU Faculty Council and the UM Intercampus Faculty Council urged MU administrators and the UM Board of Curators to observe the due process enshrined in the system's Collected Rules and Regulations when dealing with Click's case.


2015–2016 University of Missouri protests, Reactions, Melissa Click incident
On February 25, 2016, the University of Missouri Board of Curators voted 4–2 to terminate Click's employment with the university. As a result of this action, the University of Missouri was placed on the American Association of University Professors' Censure List. Commenting in an interview with the Chronicle of Higher Education, Click suggested a minority professor would not have been treated as harshly, stating, "I'm a white lady. I'm an easy target." In 2017, she was hired as a lecturer by Gonzaga University, where she later became an assistant professor.


2015–2016 University of Missouri protests, Reactions, KKK hoax
On November 10, 2015, Student Body President Payton Head made an alarming Facebook post that he later rescinded. He stated, "Students please take precaution. Stay away from the windows in residence halls. The KKK has been confirmed to be sighted on campus. I'm working with the [campus police], the state trooper and the National Guard." Major Brian Weimer with the school's police department responded by saying, "There is no Ku Klux Klan on campus." Weimer also said that the National Guard was not on campus. Head apologized, saying on Facebook, "I'm sorry about the misinformation that I have shared through social media."


2015–2016 University of Missouri protests, Reactions, KKK hoax
On November 11, 2015, the MU officially remained open, though many individual classes were cancelled after threats on social media and by phone. During a meeting between the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus and student activists, University of Missouri police reported that an anonymous caller phoned in a threat to the Oldham Black Culture Center.


2015–2016 University of Missouri protests, Reactions, KKK hoax
One professor, Dale Brigham, was at the center of controversy when he chose to administer a planned exam for Nutritional Science 1034, saying, "If you don't feel safe coming to class, then don't come to class... I will be there, and there will be an exam administered in our class," while allowing students an option to take a make-up exam. After some students complained that the professor was not taking the threats seriously, Brigham apologized and offered his resignation, saying, "If my leaders think that my leaving would help, I am all for it. I made a mistake, and I do not want to cause further harm." However, the university turned down the resignation later that day.


2015–2016 University of Missouri protests, Reactions, KKK hoax
Gus T. Ridgel, one of the nine African-American students enrolled into the University of Missouri in 1950, "was surprised and disappointed by the racist incidents at the university that prompted a campus upheaval".


2015–2016 University of Missouri protests, Reactions, KKK hoax
U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Jarred Prier argues that Russian influence operatives use U.S. social media as an information warfare medium, spreading false information during incidents of racial unrest in order to inflame racial tensions in the United States and discredit the Obama administration. An image of an African American child injured from police one year earlier was circulated by Twitter bots, declaring that the child was beaten by the KKK at the University of Missouri. One month after the protests subsided, the Twitter account changed their profile image from an African American man to a German man, tweeting instead in German about refugee crime in Germany.


2015–2016 University of Missouri protests, Reactions, Related protests
The University of Missouri events inspired other protests or indications of solidarity at over eighty other campuses in the United States. Among these were Ithaca College, Yale University, Smith College, Claremont McKenna College, Amherst College, Emporia State University, Brandeis University, and Tufts University.


2015–2016 University of Missouri protests, Reactions, Related protests
On November 13, the dean of students at Claremont McKenna College stepped down, after student protesters adopted similar tactics to those in Missouri, including a hunger strike.


2015–2016 University of Missouri protests, Reactions, Appointment of interim president
On the evening of November 12, the governing board of the University of Missouri decided in a closed-door meeting to name Michael Middleton, a law professor and deputy chancellor emeritus as the interim president. Middleton, a 1968 graduate of the university and the third African American to graduate from its law school, recently retired from the university after 30 years.


2015–2016 University of Missouri protests, Reactions, Politicians
During an interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos, President Barack Obama praised the protesters, but cautioned against protest tactics that he felt stifled open dialogue at the University of Missouri and other campuses. He said, "There is clearly a problem at the University of Missouri, and that's not just coming from students. That's coming from some faculty. And I think it is entirely appropriate for students in a thoughtful, peaceful way to protest—what they see as injustices or inattention to serious problems in their midst. I want an activist student body just like I want an activist citizenry."


2015–2016 University of Missouri protests, Reactions, Politicians
Missouri Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder issued a statement supporting the journalists covering the protests on November 9. He called for investigating the incident saying, "Faculty and staff cannot be allowed to pick and choose which rights, viewpoints and freedoms they respect. I renew my call to restore law and order on campus, so the rights of all are protected."


2015–2016 University of Missouri protests, Reactions, Turning away reporters at campus meeting
On February 10, 2016, Concerned Student 1950 held a meeting on campus. The meeting had been advertised as a "town hall" for "black students and students of color." The group asked all reporters to leave before the meeting began. Several white reporters then left the room. However, one reporter, Kayla Schierbecker, the same videographer from the November Melissa Click incident, refused, and justified her refusal to leave by saying the unreserved room was a "limited public forum" that was open to students and that she was a reporter on assignment and it was her "personal preference" to stay. Despite the meeting taking place on campus property, the group continued to ask her to leave, and eventually threatened to call campus police. Instead, the group disbanded soon after the start of the meeting, intending to relocate the meeting at a more private area of campus.


2015–2016 University of Missouri protests, Reactions, Student enrollment and alumni reaction
In April 2016 Jillian Melchior wrote in the online publication Heat Street, based on internal emails reviewed by its staff and National Review, that the university had suffered significant damage to its reputation and image over its handling of the protests. This reaction was reflected in a barrage of highly critical correspondence from alumni, donors and the families of current and prospective students attacking what was perceived as the administration's unwarranted deference to campus extremists. According to the report there has been a sharp decline in donations, particularly to the Athletic Department, where donations were down by 72%.


2015–2016 University of Missouri protests, Reactions, Student enrollment and alumni reaction
Enrollment in the freshmen class also dropped by around 25% and Melchior asserted that some current students were considering transferring to other schools. Altogether, some 2,273 fewer students enrolled at the Columbia campus for the fall 2016 semester, and the protests have been blamed at least in part for this decline.


2015–2016 University of Missouri protests, Reactions, Student enrollment and alumni reaction
Continued declines in enrollment and funding has caused continuing budget cuts and jobs being eliminated. Pelema Morrice, vice provost for enrollment, told the Columbia Daily Tribune on May 15, 2017 that the university has studied the causes of declining enrollment. "It is clear from what we learned thus far that the vast majority of our undergraduate enrollment concerns are closely tied to our public perception issues throughout the state and throughout the country."


2015–2016 University of Missouri protests, Reactions, Student enrollment and alumni reaction
According to The New York Times, freshman enrollment for the fall 2017 semester was down by 35% compared with two years prior. Seven dormitories have been temporarily closed and some 400 positions have been cut. "Students of all races have shunned Missouri, but the drop in freshman enrollment last fall was strikingly higher among blacks, at 42 percent, than among whites, at 21 percent."


2015–2016 University of Missouri protests, Reactions, Formal report
Adrianna Kezar and Sharon Fries-Britt, at the invitation of the university, used the events as a case study and published a report in 2018. It introduces a "Collective Trauma Recovery Framework (CTRF) for dealing with such complex and usually emotionally charged incidents".


2015–2016 protests in Brazil
In 2015 and 2016, a series of protests in Brazil denounced corruption and the government of President Dilma Rousseff, triggered by revelations that numerous politicians allegedly accepted bribes connected to contracts at state-owned energy company Petrobras between 2003 and 2010 and connected to the Workers' Party, while Rousseff chaired the company's board of directors. The first protests on 15 March 2015 numbered between one and nearly three million protesters against the scandal and the country's poor economic situation. In response, the government introduced anti-corruption legislation.


2015–2016 protests in Brazil
A second day of major protesting occurred 12 April, with turnout, according to GloboNews, ranging from 696,000 to 1,500,000. On 16 August, protests took place in 200 citiesin all 26 states of Brazil. Following allegations that Rousseff's predecessor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, participated in money laundering and a prosecutor ordered his arrest, record numbers of Brazilians protested against the Rousseff government on 13 March 2016, with nearly 7 million citizens demonstrating.


2015–2016 protests in Brazil
On 12 May 2016, the Federal Senate temporarily suspended Rousseff until it reached a verdict and replaced her with Vice President Michel Temer.


2015–2016 protests in Brazil, Background
In 2015, approval ratings for President Dilma Rousseff dropped to record lows due to a slowing economy, increasing unemployment, a weakening currency and rising inflation. Upper-class Brazilians stated that Rousseff could not manage the Brazilian economy. They also said that she used class tensions to benefit her political campaign by stating that her political opponents were "enemies of the poor," when, in fact, the poor felt betrayed because she had passed policies to avoid an investment-grade downgrade, which ended up supposedly hurting lower-class Brazilians.


2015–2016 protests in Brazil, Background, Corruption, Operation Car Wash
In February 2014, an investigation by Brazilian Federal Police called "Operation Car Wash" implicated the state-owned energy company Petrobras at the center of what became the largest corruption scandal in Brazil's history. On 14 November 2014, police raids in six states netted prominent Brazilian politicians and businessmen, including some Petrobras directors. They were investigated in regards to "suspicious" contracts worth $22 billion. When allegations surfaced of graft while President Rousseff was part of the board of directors of Petrobras between 2003 and 2010; Brazilians became upset with the government and called for Rousseff's impeachment. No evidence that Rousseff herself was involved in the scheme has been found, and she denies any prior knowledge of it. Further investigation found various offshore accounts and art collections owned by those involved in the scandal.


2015–2016 protests in Brazil, Background, Corruption, Operation Car Wash
In March 2015, Brazil's Supreme Court ruled that prosecutors could investigate about 50 individuals, most belonging to the Workers' Party, for possible bribery and other crimes at Petrobras. Brazilian lawmakers allegedly squirreled away millions of dollars for themselves and for their political campaigns. On 16 March 2015, prosecutors charged 27 people in the Petrobras scandal, including Workers' Party treasurer João Vaccari Neto and Renato Duque, former head of services of Petrobras. Neto was charged with corruption and money laundering, possibly related to illegal campaign donations supposedly solicited from Duque. Duque was arrested and denied "having money abroad or moving money abroad". On 15 April 2015, Neto was arrested at his São Paulo home. The Workers' Party charged that Neto's arrest was politically motivated.


2015–2016 protests in Brazil, Background, Corruption, Lula da Silva allegations
On 4 March 2016, Federal Police raided the home of Rousseff's predecessor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva following corruption charges against him. A subsequent indictment accused Lula of money laundering and misrepresentation, with many of the allegations surrounding a luxury beachfront home that he hadn't disclosed that he owned, which had recent, costly additions. He faces ten years in prison if convicted. Investigators believed that this and another country house were possibly involved in the Petrobras scandal, and investigated further into donations made to his Lula Foundation. The link has not however yet been demonstrated.


2015–2016 protests in Brazil, Background, Corruption, Lula da Silva allegations
Protests against Lula protégée Dilma Rousseff began again on 14 March 2016.


2015–2016 protests in Brazil, Background, Corruption, Lula da Silva allegations
On 15 March 2016, testimony by the former leader of the Workers' Party stated that Lula and Rousseff had tried to block the Petrobras investigation and alleged that Aécio Neves, head of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) and a member of the Federal Senate, might be involved. The next day, Rousseff appointed Lula as her chief of staff, allegedly because ministers and lawmakers can only be tried by Brazil's Supreme Court. Judge Sergio Moro released a recorded phone call from Rousseff to Lula. The Supreme Court said the wiretap had been illegal, because it alone could authorize a wiretap involving the president, and one Supreme Court justice called the appointment an attempt to impede the investigation.


2015–2016 protests in Brazil, Background, Corruption, Lula da Silva allegations
The phone call between Rousseff and Lula da Silva went as follows:


2015–2016 protests in Brazil, Background, Corruption, Lula da Silva allegations
Rousseff: It’s this, I am sending Messias round with the papers, so that we have them, just in case of necessity, that is the terms of office, right?


2015–2016 protests in Brazil, Background, Corruption, Lula da Silva allegations
Tens of thousands of Brazilians protested nationwide the night after the recorded call was released, with some violence reported.


2015–2016 protests in Brazil, Background, Corruption, Allegations of PMDB involvement
As investigations grew, allegations against members of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) began to arise. Vice President Michel Temer faced impeachment proceedings in December 2015 but his fellow party member, President of the Chamber of Deputies Eduardo Cunha, defended Temer and blocked the motion. Cunha, however, did grant impeachment proceedings against President Rousseff at the time. Months later in April 2016, a Supreme Court judge, Judge Mello, ruled Cunha's actions wrong and that Temer should face impeachment proceedings as well.


2015–2016 protests in Brazil, Background, Corruption, Allegations of PMDB involvement
Cunha, who would be third in line for the presidency, has also faced scrutiny for alleged money laundering through the Petrobras scandal. Fourth in line, the President of the Senate of Brazil and fellow party member of PMDB, Renan Calheiros, is also under investigation for his alleged involvement in the scandal as well.


2015–2016 protests in Brazil, Background, Corruption, Allegations of PMDB involvement
On 5 May 2016, Cunha was suspended as speaker of the lower house by Brazil's Supreme Court due to allegations that he attempted to intimidate members of Congress, and obstructed investigations into his alleged receipt of bribes.


2015–2016 protests in Brazil, Background, Economy
According to Bloomberg Businessweek, "[t]he real strengthened 0.6 percent to 3.2304 per dollar and has fallen 17.7 percent this year", the largest drop in value among "major currencies". Bloomberg Businessweek also noted that Rousseff's government had raised taxes and slowed spending to avoid a credit rating downgrade "after years of ballooning spending and subsidized lending", that economic growth had stalled and that "inflation exceeds the ceiling of the target range". The Petrobras scandal hurt the economy by causing a slowdown in investment in energy and construction.


2015–2016 protests in Brazil, Demonstrations, 2015
On 13 March, thousands of supporters of the Workers' Party gathered in support of Rousseff and Petrobras in cities around Brazil. Police said that about 33,000 participated in the protests; pro-government organizers said 175,000 demonstrated. On 15 March, protests again broke out across Brazil. Although crowd size estimates differ, most calculations put the number at roughly one million nationwide.


2015–2016 protests in Brazil, Demonstrations, 2015
Police estimated the number at 2.4 million and organizers at three million, with hundreds of thousands to over a million demonstrators in São Paulo, about 50,000 in Brasília and thousands in other cities, with many protesters wearing yellow and green clothing similar to the Brazil football team and Brazilian flag. In São Paulo, police stated that at the start of the protest, there were approximately 580,000 demonstrators but the numbers grew by about 4,000 people every two minutes, with an estimated final number of over 1.5 million demonstrators.


2015–2016 protests in Brazil, Demonstrations, 2015
Datafolha estimated a different number of protesters, stating that 210,000 demonstrators protested at some point and that 188,000 did so at the same time. On Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, thousands protested and collected signatures directed at impeaching President Rousseff. The protest occurred on the 30th anniversary of the restoration of Brazil to democracy after military dictatorship. Some demonstrators called for military intervention against Rousseff, others for impeachment.


2015–2016 protests in Brazil, Demonstrations, 2015
Brazilians protested again on 12 April. Police said about 696,000 people came out, while protest organizers stated there were 1,500,000 demonstrators. In São Paulo, protesters were numbered between 275,000 by police and 1,000,000 by organizers. In Rio de Janeiro on Copacabana Beach, there were fewer demonstrators than at the 15 March protests but several thousand protesters still demonstrated. and sang rock songs that dated back to protests against the former Brazilian military dictatorship. The protesters believed that Rousseff knew about the corruption and demanded she step down or called for her impeachment. Analysts said that the smaller turnout could show that the protests would eventually come to a halt and the movement would end. Protest organizers combated such statements saying that the movement had spread to smaller cities in Brazil compared to 15 March protests.


2015–2016 protests in Brazil, Demonstrations, 2015
On 15 April, labor organizations protested a law that permitted companies to treat workers as independent contractors, and protests spreading through 19 Brazilian states with demonstrators blocking roads.


2015–2016 protests in Brazil, Demonstrations, 2015
Fieldwork using quantitative methods conducted in the 12 April protests by researchers based at the University of São Paulo in the city of São Paulo, and by Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais professors in Belo Horizonte noted the specific profile of the protesters.


2015–2016 protests in Brazil, Demonstrations, 2015
In São Paulo, they were largely very high-income, mostly white, with a great mistrust of political parties, especially those on the left, but with a strong belief in Aécio Neves, the defeated candidate in the 2014 national elections, and revealed a preference for ultra-conservative political journalism, and the belief that the Workers' Party intended to implement a communist regime in Brazil. In Belo Horizonte, protesters identified themselves mostly as centrist or right-wing in their political beliefs; supporting the idea that the federal government's distributive policies and favoring her resignation or impeachment. A call for military intervention was the third most frequent response. A majority of protesters agreed that military intervention was needed when asked that question in a yes or no format.


2015–2016 protests in Brazil, Demonstrations, 2015
Subsequent protests occurred on 16 August and on 13 December.


2015–2016 protests in Brazil, Demonstrations, 2016
Between 5.6 and 6.9 million Brazilians protested nationwide on 13 March 2016 calling for the arrest of her predecessor Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's on money laundering charges and more specifically, for Dilma's impeachment. Protests in 337 municipalities, from the jungle town of Manaus to the capital city of Brasilia, demanded Rousseff's resignation. In São Paulo alone, approximately 2.5 million protested dressed in Brazil's yellow and green apparel, said police, the largest demonstration in the history of the city. Though the protesters were mainly middle-class, support for Rousseff among the poor has reportedly dropped due to the economy. Balloons depicting Lula da Silva in a striped prison outfit named 'pixuleco' were also seen during the protests.


2015–2016 protests in Brazil, Demonstrations, 2016
On 16 March 2016, more protests broke out after Rousseff appointed Lula da Silva as her chief of staff, a move seen as shielding him from investigation, and leaked audio of a call between the two went public. The public, outraged, protested nationwide. In Brasilia, 5,000 people demonstrated outside the presidential palace and were dispersed with pepper spray and stun grenades when they approached the National Congress Palace. In São Paulo, thousands more protested, and another 5,000 in Porto Alegre. Protests reached 18 states.


2015–2016 protests in Brazil, Demonstrations, 2016
On 18 March 2016, the Order of Attorneys of Brazil, by 26 votes to 2, decided to support the impeachment of Rousseff based on the opinion of federal advisor Erick Venâncio.


2015–2016 protests in Brazil, Reactions, Government response
Rousseff said she defended the right to protest but called the protests a tactic used against her by opposition politicians and business elites. In the week after the 15 March protest, President Rousseff said that she was open to dialogue and that she might have made mistakes in her economic policies.


2015–2016 protests in Brazil, Reactions, Government response, Anti-corruption measures
Following the 15 March protests, the Brazilian government announced that "a package of anti-corruption measures" was on the way, according to Secretary General Miguel Rossetto and Justice Minister Jose Eduardo Cardozo. Cardozo also stated that the government would participate in dialogue and that there should be "a ban on corporate finance of electoral campaigns". On 18 March, President Rousseff introduced the anti-corruption package, which included up to 10 years in prison for individuals convicted of corruption and fines five to ten times the amount of money in any transaction. The package would also included more individuals in all branches of the Brazilian government in the 2010 Ficha Limpa law, which makes an individual ineligible to participate in government for eight years after impeachment, resigning to avoid impeachment or conviction by a judiciary panel.


2015–2016 protests in Brazil, Reactions, Public opinion
In February 2015, before protests began, Rouseff's approval rating dropped 19 points to 23% with 44% disapproving of her in Datafolha polls. Following 15 March protests, Rouseff's approval rating fell even further to only 13% with a 62% disapproval rating, one of the highest disapproval ratings in the past 20 years of any president. Other polls by Datafolha performed on 9 and 10 April showed that 63% believed President Rousseff "should face impeachment proceedings". Less than 15% knew that vice president Michel Temer would become president if Rousseff was impeached.


2015–2016 protests in Brazil, Reactions, Public opinion
In CNT/MDA polls performed in March 2015, 10.8% of Brazilians approved of Rouseff's government and 59.7 wanted her impeached. In July 2015, the CNT/MDA showed a lower approval rating of 7.7% and 62.8% of Brazilians wanting her impeachment.


2015–2016 protests in Moldova
Starting in the spring of 2015, Moldova experienced large-scale protests amid a worsening economic situation and corruption scandals. The protests gained momentum in September, when up to 100,000 people demonstrated in the largest protest since Moldova's independence from the Soviet Union in August 1991.


2015–2016 protests in Moldova
The protests have been organised by a grass-roots citizens' movement, Dignity and Truth (Romanian: Demnitate și Adevăr), that was established in February 2015 as a response to the disappearance of $1 billion from the Moldovan banks in 2014. Dignity and Truth is led by lawyers, journalists and other well-known figures in Moldova.


2015–2016 protests in Moldova, Background
In Moldova, one of Europe's poorest countries, nearly 17% of the population live below the poverty line. Moreover, with an average wage of about $129 per month, Moldova reportedly has the lowest standard of living in Europe.


2015–2016 protests in Moldova, Background
In 2014, $1 billion vanished from three of Moldova's leading banks. In two days loans worth $1 billion were transferred in to United Kingdom and Hong Kong-registered companies whose ultimate owners are unknown. Banks are administered by the National Bank of Moldova, so this loss was covered from state reserves. This protected depositors but created a hole in Moldovan public finances equivalent to an eighth of the country's GDP. Protesters claim this damaged their living standards.


2015–2016 protests in Moldova, Background
The issue highlighted the problem of corruption in Moldova and although the government has promised an investigation, protest leaders have called for a campaign of civil disobedience, a general strike and a refusal to pay utility bills in order to force the resignation of the government. Likewise, as a response to the $1 billion disappearance the grass-roots citizens' movement Dignity and Truth (Romanian: Dreptate și Adevăr) was established in February 2015. This organization is led by lawyers, journalists and other well-known figures in Moldova.


2015–2016 protests in Moldova, Background
Unification with Romania is seen as a solution to Moldova's economic, political and social crisis, but also in the context of the tensions in neighbouring Ukraine. Polls up to May 2015 showed 10 to 20 percent of Moldovans supported unification.


2015–2016 protests in Moldova, Background, Name
The protests are dubbed in the international press as the Moldovan Maidan (due to similar circumstances with Ukrainian Euromaidan) and Anti-oligarchic movement. In Moldova, media outlets cataloged the events as a Red Revolution, due to involvement of communist and socialist parties in the protests.


2015–2016 protests in Moldova, Background, Protesters' profile
The protesters have formed two distinct camps: pro-European sympathizers and those who support pro-Russian parties. But while they may be separated by aspirations and ideologies, both sides have similar aims: the resignation of the government, the conviction of corrupt oligarchs and early elections.


2015–2016 protests in Moldova, Background, Protesters' profile
For those in the pro-Russian camp, the corruption cases have provoked a crisis of confidence in the European project. Moldova signed an association agreement with the European Union in 2013, committing to core reforms, economic recovery, sector cooperation and justice, but anti-European sentiment is growing. An April 2015 poll found that 32% of Moldovans favoured joining the EU, a decrease of 46 percent compared to 78% in 2007.


2015–2016 protests in Moldova, Timeline, Farmers' protests
The National Farmers Federation of Moldova, the Republican Association UniAgroProtect, the National Farmers Federation AGROinform and the Association Moldova-Fruct organized on 27 March and 15 April protest action by farmers throughout the country. According to organizers, the protests mobilized more than 5,000 farmers. They blocked national roads with agricultural machinery.


2015–2016 protests in Moldova, Timeline, Farmers' protests
Farmers oppose a VAT increase from 8% to 20% and demand swift access to a credit line of nearly €100 million offered by Poland with a subsidized interest rate. Farmers say that, because of the devaluation of the leu, resulting from de facto nationalization of the banks at the heart of the economic crisis, they can't service outstanding loans. They had several meetings with the Prime Minister, the Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of Finance, but were not satisfied with the result. The farmers' demands include replenishment of subsidy funds in 2015 to 1.2 billion lei, the release of the lending process in agriculture and the decrease of the lending interest rate.


2015–2016 protests in Moldova, Timeline, 5 April demonstration
Tens of thousands of people across the country gathered in downtown Chișinău, at the call of the Dignity and Truth Platform, in an action of protest against the collapse of the financial and banking system, but also against judicial corruption. Demonstrators chanted slogans against the government led by Chiril Gaburici and demanded the unification of Romania and Moldova. Gaburici resigned on 22 June after an investigation into alleged fraud in his educational qualifications and was replaced permanently by Valeriu Streleț on 30 July.


2015–2016 protests in Moldova, Timeline, 3 May demonstration
On 3 May, up to 50,000 people protested against the Government of Moldova, saying it had failed to implement reforms to bring the country closer to the European Union. Protesters also called on the government to investigate the disappearance of $1 billion (nearly 1/8 of the country's GDP) from the state-owned Savings Bank and the private banks Unibank, Banca de Economii and Banca Socială, in November 2014 before parliamentary elections. The central bank commissioned risk consultancy Kroll to conduct a preliminary investigation into the activities of the three stricken banks.


2015–2016 protests in Moldova, Timeline, 3 May demonstration
Their findings were confidential but on 4 May parliament speaker Andrian Candu published what he said was Kroll's report on his website. "There appears to have been a deliberate plan to gain control of each of the banks and subsequently manipulate transactions to gain access to credit, whilst giving the appearance to the contrary", the report said. The protest activities were mobilized by the newly founded citizen platform called "Dignity and Truth" – allegedly financed by Viorel and Victor Topa, two exiled businessmen – to which leading personalities in Moldovan civil society belong.


2015–2016 protests in Moldova, Timeline, Expulsion of George Simion
A protest took place on 14 May, in Bucharest, in front of the Embassy of the Republic of Moldova, calling for an "urgent revocation of abusive measures" taken by the Chișinău authorities against Romanian citizen George Simion. The measure was seen as an attempt to intimidate the protest announced for 16 May. Simion had come to Moldova to help organize and take part in the march. He was expelled for five years on 14 May on grounds that his activities could endanger national security.


2015–2016 protests in Moldova, Timeline, Expulsion of George Simion
Despite this, more than 25,000 people gathered in Grand National Assembly Square in the largest pro-Romanian manifestation in Chișinău in recent years. Most of the protesters were young people and intellectuals. They demanded the unification of Romania and Moldova and displayed placards with unionist and anti-Russian messages. Demonstrators were joined, among others, by Mayor of Chișinău Dorin Chirtoacă. Column of protesters made several stops in front of the embassies of Romania, Germany, the United States and Russia.


2015–2016 protests in Moldova, Timeline, Expulsion of George Simion
Participants at the unionist march voted for the formation of the National Unity Bloc (Romanian: Blocul Unității Naționale), adjoining 22 non-governmental entities, including: Civic Movement Youth of Moldova, Unionist Platform Action 2012, Association Light of Transnistrian Teachers, Queen Helen Foundation, Children Charity Foundation Sidereal Moment, Association of Former Deportees in USSR, Association Tiras-Bender, etc. The march ended with the signing of a Pact of Union, Pact for Europe.


2015–2016 protests in Moldova, Timeline, Expulsion of George Simion
A bus with 50 members of the Moldovan Youth organization and others who wanted to attend the rally were blocked and legitimated by police in Cahul. Meanwhile, about 40 high school students from Florești were warned by telephone, through parents, by the police that if they participate in demonstrations on 16 May, they would suffer as during the protests of 7 April 2009.


2015–2016 protests in Moldova, Timeline, Expulsion of George Simion
Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta conducted a visit to Chișinău on the occasion of Moldovan Independence Day, being greeted by about 200 young men with masks featuring George Simion. "We want to see justice done in the case of George Simion, we want functional justice and we believe that true sovereignty, independence and freedom can only be achieved through union", stated Anatol Ursu, one of the organizers of the flash mob.


2015–2016 protests in Moldova, Timeline, Expulsion of George Simion
After pressure from civil society and Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu, Chișinău Court of Appeal decided, on 18 September, to lift the ban imposed on George Simion.


2015–2016 protests in Moldova, Timeline, Expulsion of George Simion
On 22 September, Romanian and Moldovan governments met in joint session, in Neptun. At the same time, over 300 people gathered outside the building where the meeting was held, demanding unification of Moldova with Romania. Before the meeting began, protesters tried to force the cordon of gendarmes to get closer to the building, and some of them jostled with law enforcers. The heads of the two governments agreed to talk to the unionists.


2015–2016 protests in Moldova, Timeline, March of Stephen the Great
On 5 July 2015, up to 30,000 people, according to organizers, gathered in Grand National Assembly Square, Chișinău, facing Government House and the Monument to the Victims of the Soviet Occupation, to demand the unification of Romania and Moldova. Participants chanted unionist slogans and voted symbolically for a union.


2015–2016 protests in Moldova, Timeline, March of Stephen the Great
Organized by Unionist Platform "Action 2012" and Youth of Moldova, the manifestation was claimed to be one of the largest in the recent history of Moldova and the fourth great national gathering after those of 27 August 1989 (calling for a restoration of the Latin script), 16 December 1990 (in support of changing the name of the state to Republic of Moldova) and 27 August 1991 (celebrating the proclamation of independence from the USSR). Among participants were present Members of the Romanian Parliament and Moldovans from the Diaspora.


2015–2016 protests in Moldova, Timeline, March of Stephen the Great
Thousands of young people among the participants in the Great National Gathering headed to Bucharest in the March of Stephen the Great (Romanian: Marșul lui Ștefan cel Mare) calling for the unification of Moldova with Romania. The march lasted a week, from 5 to 11 July. In the Republic of Moldova, the march followed the route Strășeni–Lozova–Călărași–Cornești–Ungheni. Participants crossed the Prut River, on 11 July, at 10 a.m., in a large-scale reenactment of the Bridges of Flowers in 1990.


2015–2016 protests in Moldova, Timeline, March of Stephen the Great
Their march ended in Bucharest, where were greeted by several hundred Romanian citizens in University Square, before making their way to the Cotroceni Palace to call on Romanian President Klaus Iohannis to support the unification project. Former Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin has sharply condemned the march to Romania. In a letter to European Parliament President Martin Schulz, released on 7 July, Voronin accused Bucharest of fomenting "the destruction and annexation of Moldova".


2015–2016 protests in Moldova, Timeline, Autumn protests
Tens of thousands of people manifested in Chișinău at the call of the Justice and Truth Platform. According to police, between 35,000 and 40,000 people attended the demonstration, while organizers estimated around 100,000 participants. The protest was the biggest since Moldova's independence movement in the early 1990s, bigger even than the mass anti-communist protests of April 2009. Participants adopted a resolution demanding early elections, the resignation of President Nicolae Timofti and all leading institutions of law, including the Prosecutor General's office and the National Anticorruption Center.