General election is nigh
Budget vote fiasco and Catalan controversy tumble PSOE government
PM Pedro Sánchez is today (Friday) expected to announce snap ballot date
PM PEDRO Sánchez is today (Friday) expected to announce a snap general election.
Catalan nationalists called the PM's bluff and voted against the budget on Wednesday. Together with the PSOE's political rivals PP and Ciudadanos, plus MPs from several other parties, the budget was turned down by 191 votes against 158 (PSOE, Unidos Podemos, PNV and Compromís).
This was only the second time in Spain's modern democracy that a budget was turned down before minor amendments could be discussed.
The only precedent was in October 1995, when another socialist PM, Felipe Gonzalez, saw his budget rejected - again by Catalan nationalists who broke their ruling coalition with the PSOE. The crisis led to a general election in March the following year that was won by PP candidate José María Aznar. History appears to be repeating itself this week and PM Sánchez has little option other than to call a snap general election.
Moncloa said he would make the announcement after today's (Friday) Cabinet meeting. PSOE sources do not want the ballot to coincide with the EU, local and regional elections to be held on May 25, so a general ballot could be called towards the end of April (experts forecast Sunday 28).
Fall-out and demonstration
The uneasy relationship between the government and Catalan nationalists took a definite turn for the worst late last week, when Pedro Sánchez's deputy-PM Carmen Calvo announced the rupture of talks with the Catalan separatists.
The PM's decision was forced by an outcry from all other national parties in addition (resulting in a huge demonstration in Madrid on Sunday) to harsh criticism within his own PSOE ranks after he agreed for a rapporteur - or a negotiator as seen by critics - to oversee talks between the central government and the Catalan regional government last week.
Furthermore, it was leaked that a list of 21 demands made by the separatists to sit at the negotiating table included the right to hold an independency referendum that would be a direct violation of the Spanish Constitution.
The PM's office said this was inadmissible and had thus decided to break off the talks.
Right-wing party PP, centrists Ciudadanos and far-right wingers Vox went ahead with the demonstration on Sunday to voice their criticism and demand elections were held 'as Sr Sanchez promised to do when he won the vote of no-confidence last summer' said PP officials.
The protest was attended by at least 45,000 people according to government sources, (200,000 according to organisers) and hit headlines throughout Europe.