General election chances rises after budget fiasco

PM Pedro Sánchez could call elections to coincide with EU ballot in May after failing to achieve support for the PSOE-Podemos 2019 budget

CHANCES of a general election in Spain in May are increasing rapidly after PM Pedro Sánchez has admitted he will be unable to pass the 2019 budget in Parliament.

Public works minister Luis Ábalos sparked rumours during a press conference on Monday when he stated a general election on May 26 (coinciding with the regional and the EU elections) 'cannot be discarded'.

A few hours later, during his official visit to Morocco, the PM himself added more logs to the fire by not contradicting his minister. Instead, when asked, he said 'Sr Ábalos' reply was showing common sense'.

The PM first 'threatened' to call an election in September when facing opposition from Catalan separatists, the same who, alongside the Basque nationalists and left-wingers Podemos, allowed him to oust PP PM Mariano Rajoy in May.

However, in recent weeks the relationship with the Basque, and mainly the Catalan nationalist parties has deteriorated significantly.

One of the main reasons to call a new election is the fact that due to the lack of support from the nationalist parties, the PM would be unable to get the budget for 2019 passed in Parliament.

With only the guaranteed support of Podemos, the PSOE government is far short of ensuring the 2019 presented before the European Commission will have sufficient support to overcome opposition by both PP and Ciudadanos.

On Friday, another Cabinet minister claimed the government had reached an agreement with the PNV party, which the nationalist rapidly denied. It goes without saying the Basque nationalists have now warned they will not be supporting the budget.

Catalan parties do not forget the PM's failure to ensure no prison terms will be sought for their members in custody over last year's independency crisis, Due to this, both ERC and PdeCat will not be backing the budget.

Hence, after just six months in power, only Podemos remains to support Sr Sánchez, both parties together still far short of an overall majority.

On Friday, in the usual press conference held after the weekly full Cabinet meeting, government spokeswomen Isabel Celaá admitted the PM was considering 'not even presenting the budget' for approval.

If Sr Sánchez wishes to remain at Moncloa Palace, the only alternative would be to extend the existing budget (approved by the PP last year) and include any new economic decision is decrees approved only in Cabinet - a highly unpopular move which had always been criticised by the PSOE when they were in opposition.

As the deadline to present a budget for 2019 is April, the most likely scenario now seems to be a general election. The date would be May 26, which already sees two elections overlap: the EU elections and the local and regional elections in Spain, which is why analysts are already talking over a 'super-Sunday election'.