Sánchez sets date for snap general election: 28 April
The PM, Pedro Sánchez, announced his decision on Friday morning after his 2019 budget plan was rejected by parliament earlier in the week
SUR
Viernes, 15 de febrero 2019, 09:44
Spain's prime minister Pedro Sánchez has called a snap general election for 28 April.
Sánchez failed to get enough votes in the Congreso in support of Spains delayed 2019 budget this week and the country went immediately onto general election standby.
The PM needed the votes of Catalan separatist MPs in the national chamber to get the plan approved. Despite last-minute pleas from Basque nationalists and the more left-wing parties, the Catalans failed to give their support after months of negotiations. The move has led to Sánchez's decision to go back to the polls.
The date, Sunday 28 April, has the advantage of fitting with the legal timetable for calling elections while avoiding Easter. Also it steers clear of European, municipal and some regional elections on 26 May. While a few called for a super-Sunday vote in May, Sánchez was believed to feel it is in the interests of his Socialist PSOE party to keep the general election separate.
Opinion poll trackers show that Sánchezs party is still the most popular, but with the political landscape very fragmented. The support of the centre-right and right-of-centre parties (Ciudadanos, Partido Popular and newcomers Vox) appeared to be above 50 per cent in the event of any coalition negotiations.
How well the controversial far-right party Vox may do was set to be one of the main factors in a lead-up to the likely election.
Fate sealed when PM said 'no'
Last weekend, Pedro Sánchez had formally broken off behind-the-scenes negotiations with the Catalan separatist parties to ease the political crisis there, saying he would never agree to their demand for self-determination.
It came after news emerged that the government had agreed to use a form of intermediary in any future cross-party talks, provoking a strong backlash from some of his own senior party members after the apparent concession to the independence movement.
Sánchez became PM only eight months ago after a successful no-confidence motion, with the help of the nationalists, against the Partido Populars Mariano Rajoy.
