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Agence France-Presse

Spain’s prime minister on Friday called an early general election for April 28, the third in less than four years, after his draft budget was rejected in parliament over the Catalan secession crisis.
“Between two options – not doing anything and continuing without a budget, or … giving Spaniards their say – I choose the second,” Pedro Sanchez told reporters, before announcing the date.
Sanchez took power just over eight months ago after he ousted his conservative rival in a dramatic parliamentary no-confidence vote, but it has been a turbulent term.
At the head of a fragile minority government, the 46-year-old had to rely on the support of unlikely bedfellows in parliament, including the far-left Podemos party, Basque nationalist lawmakers and – crucially – 17 Catalan separatist MPs.
On Wednesday, Catalan MPs joined right-wing lawmakers in rejecting his budget.

They withdrew their backing in protest at separatist leaders being put on trial for their role in a 2017 attempt to break Catalonia from Spain.
Even before Sanchez’s announcement, the socialists had already adopted a campaign-like tone, accusing Catalan separatists and conservatives of blocking a budget that included many social-spending measures after years of austerity.
On Friday, Sanchez blasted “blocking a social budget after seven years of social injustice, austerity, and spending cuts.”
He highlighted his government’s short track record – from a 22 per cent rise in the minimum wage to fighting against energy poverty.
Catalan ex-official Oriol Junqueras testifies he is a ‘political prisoner’
“It’s the end of an atypical, turbulent term,” said Paloma Roman, politics professor at Madrid’s Complutense University.
Sanchez has been savaged by the conservative Popular Party (PP), centre-right Ciudadanos and more recently small, far-right party Vox.
Last Sunday, they called a big protest in Madrid to ask for early elections.
One of their biggest bugbears has been the socialist government’s negotiations with Catalonia’s separatist executive as Madrid tries to ease tensions with the northeastern region.
While Madrid says it initiated talks to try and find a way out of an ongoing crisis, the opposition has accused it of yielding to separatist demands merely to stay in power.

Several opinion polls see Sanchez’s Socialist party winning elections but likely unable to form a majority in parliament, even with Podemos.
Polls say the PP, Ciudadanos and Vox – which has surged recently thanks to its hard line against Catalan separatism – could be able to form a majority.
That would lead to a coalition government with the PP and Ciudadanos, formed with the support of Vox – which is what happened in the southern region of Andalusia after local polls there in December.
“Tensions between the central government and Catalonia are likely to increase in this scenario,” said Steven Trypsteen, ING economist for Spain and Portugal.
The other scenario, he said, could be that the right-wing bloc does not get enough lawmakers to form a majority.
In that case, “political gridlock” would be possible, he said.


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Spain

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez calls snap polls after budget defeat

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez holds a news conference after an extraordinary cabinet meeting in Madrid, Spain. Photo: Reuters

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez holds a news conference after an extraordinary cabinet meeting in Madrid, Spain, February 15, 2019. REUTERS/Juan Medina

Catalan ex-official Oriol Junqueras testifies he is a ‘political prisoner’

Former Catalan Vice President Oriol Junqueras testifies before judges during the trial of jailed Catalan separatist leaders at the Supreme Court in Madrid, Spain, February 14, 2019 in this screengrab taken from video. Photo: Reuters

Former Catalan Vice President Oriol Junqueras testifies before judges during the trial of jailed Catalan separatist leaders at the Supreme Court in Madrid, Spain, February 14, 2019 in this screengrab taken from video. REUTERS/Reuters TV

Spain’s divisions laid bare as Catalan separatists’ trial starts

Front row from left, Joaquim Form, Raul Romeva, Oriol Junquera, second row from left, Josep Rull, Jordi Turull, Jordi Sanchez, third row from left, Dolors Bassa, Carmen Forcadell, Jordi Cuixart, back row from left, Meritxell Borras, Santiago Vila, and Carles Mundo during the trial at the Spanish Supreme Court in Madrid, Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019. Spain is bracing for the nation's most sensitive trial in four decades of democracy this week, with a dozen Catalan separatists facing charges including rebellion over a failed secession bid in 2017. (Emilio Naranjo/Pool via AP)

People hold 'Esteladas' (Catalan pro-independence flag) during a protest at the entrance of Catalonia's regional government economy headquarters in Barcelona on September 20, 2017. Thousands took to the streets of Barcelona as Spanish police detained 13 Catalan government officials in a crackdown ahead of an independence referendum which Madrid says is illegal. With tensions mounting, separatist organisations called for more people to protest as leaders in the northeastern region pressed ahead with preparations for the October 1 vote despite Madrid's ban and a court ruling deeming it unconstitutional. / AFP PHOTO / LLUIS GENE

Spanish riot police swings a club against would-be voters near a school assigned to be a polling station by the Catalan government in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. Spanish riot police have forcefully removed a few hundred would-be voters from several polling stations in Barcelona. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

epa07363512 A Spanish national police van believed to transport some of the Catalan pro-independence leaders arrives to the Supreme Court in Madrid, Spain, 12 February 2019, hours before the start of the trial against 12 Catalan pro-independence politicians involved in the illegal referendum held back in 2017. The trial against the Catalan politicians involved in the illegal pro-independence referendum kicks off in the Spanish capital with nine of the 12 pro-independence leaders accused of rebellion and embezzlement for their role in the Catalan illegal independence referendum back in 2017, while the other three accused face disobedience charges. More than 500 people have been called to declare, some of them former members of the Spanish Government such as former Primer Minister Mariano Rajoy. EPA-EFE/RODRIGO JIMENEZ

Catalan regional president Quim Torra (C-R) and Catalan regional parliament speaker Roger Torrent (C-L) take part in a protest against the trial of jailed Catalan separatists in Madrid on February 12, 2019. - Twelve former Catalan leaders go on trial at Spain's Supreme Court for their role in a failed 2017 bid to break away from Spain. (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP)

Front row from left: Joaquim Form, Raul Romeva, Oriol Junquera, second row from left: Josep Rull, Jordi Turull, Jordi Sanchez, third row from left: Dolors Bassa, Carmen Forcadell, Jordi Cuixart, back row from left, Meritxell Borras, Santiago Vila, and Carles Mundo during the trial at the Spanish Supreme Court in Madrid on February 12, 2019. Photo: AP

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Early general election will be held on April 28 in midst of Catalan secession crisis


Early general election will be held on April 28 in midst of Catalan secession crisis.


Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez calls snap polls after budget defeat

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Early general election will be held on April 28 in midst of Catalan secession crisis

Early general election will be held on April 28 in midst of Catalan secession crisis