80,000 Spaniards Sign Petition to Put Lawmakers 'on Diet'

Over 80,000 Spanish citizens have signed an online petition as of Wednesday, asking King Felipe VI of Spain to suspend the legislators' salaries and “put them on a diet” until they reach an agreement to form a Cabinet.

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“As head of state, you should suspend employment and wages, immediately and retroactively, for all Congress people, as long as they fail to form a Spanish government,” stated the petition on Change.org.

The successful petition comes after Spain's conservative acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy failed to win the confidence of Parliament Friday to serve a second term as prime minister, starting the countdown to a possible third election if a deal can't be brokered in the next two months.

Far-right newcomer Ciudadanos voted in favor of Rajoy, as did a small party from the Canary Islands. The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, the anti-austerity alliance Unidos Podemos, and regional parties from the Basque Country and Catalonia voted against him.

Spain has been without a functioning government since the last two rounds of elections—in December 2015 and June of this year—failed to hand a convincing mandate to any political party.