Spanish acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy speaks at Las Cortes in Madrid on March 2, 2016 during a parliamentary debate to vote through a prime minister and allow the country to finally get a government. | Pierre-Phillipe Marcou/AFP/Getty Mariano Rajoy slams ‘fictitious’ Socialist bid for power Acting prime minister says Socialist leader has no chance of forming a government.

Mariano Rajoy lashed out at the man who wants to replace him as Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, in a heated parliamentary debate ahead of a Wednesday vote on a coalition deal.

Acting Prime Minister Rajoy, of the center-right Popular Party, on Tuesday accused Sánchez of "twisting the election result"and attempting to lead an "improvised" government. "This is a fictitious, unreal candidature," Rajoy said of a pact between Sánchez's Socialists and the center-right Ciudadanos (Citizens).

The two parties struck a deal in February after elections in December failed to produce a clear winner. The PP came first in the election, but fell well short of a majority. After Rajoy told King Felipe he did not have the support to form a government, Sánchez, whose party came second in December, was asked to put together a coalition.

The Socialists and Ciudadanos have a combined 130 seats in parliament. Sanchez needs an absolute majority — equivalent to 176 MPs — to be elected prime minister on Wednesday. If he fails, a second vote is scheduled for Friday. If there is still no deal, fresh elections will be held, likely on June 26.

The normally mild-mannered Rajoy had harsh words for Sánchez: "You come here without a government and without support, hoping that others will fix what you have failed to fix because you are thinking about your own survival."

"What you would have us believe is that if we do not have a government today it will be because of all of us, the bad guys," he said, adding that Sánchez's plan to govern was a "bluff" and a "comedy."

Sánchez hit back, mocking Rajoy's inability to reach agreements with other parties and calling on the far-left Podemos (We Can) and other, smaller leftist parties to sign up for a government of change.

"It's the forces of change that really won a broad majority," Sanchez said. "There are only two alternatives: we keep Mariano Rajoy in power, or we move forward and get going."

However, Sánchez's chances of securing the support of Podemos appear slim. The left-wing party's leader Pablo Iglesias said his party would vote against the Sánchez-led government. Iglesias has long said that he would not work with Ciudadanos.