Accused, Sánchez calls for elections | They will become …

From Madrid

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez clarified the matter a few minutes after 10 am and confirmed that the country's general elections would be held on 28 April. The Socialist leader took advantage of his appearance at the Palace of Moncloa to review his eight months of administration, criticize the opposition and draw a political horizon for Spain in the event that the PSOE ( Spanish Socialist Workers Party) would achieve majority support that allows it to lead a new government after the next elections.

Sánchez described his executive as "leftist, pro-European and with the highest number of women among the OECD countries" (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) and defended the social agenda that He had promoted during this period, such as the increase of the SMI (minimum inter-professional wage) and the salaries of civil servants, and the revaluation of pensions. Measures that, according to the president, are guaranteed by the government.

On the other hand, the Socialist leader accused the opposition of blocking "most of the social budgets of the last decade" and emphasized the Popular Party (PP) and Ciudadanos (Cs), which had a majority at the Congress table . In addition, he accused them of "blocking the implementation of laws important for the welfare of citizens", such as the law on euthanasia or the repeal of the Gag law (which limits protest rights).

The appearance also included a chapter referring in a subtle way to the Catalan question. Sanchez said the government had opted for "moderation and dialogue" and for "territorial cohesion of Spain" and not "for tension", with obvious reference to the speech of the PP, Cs and Vox , very critical of the government. dialogue that the Spanish government has explored with the Generalitat of Catalonia to pursue the political and territorial conflict in Catalonia. The most concrete example is the accusation of the leader of the Socialist Party, Pablo Casado, of "high treason" and "crime" to the Socialist leader for the possible inclusion of a rapporteur, a mediator in the negotiations with the Independents, and took him to the ceremony, with Ciudadanos, a demonstration in Madrid that gathered last Sunday 50,000 people.

In order to collect his legacy in the Catalan cause and to position himself, Pedro Sánchez said that "in the Constitution and the legality" are willing to dialogue.

Less than an hour after the novelty, opposition leaders reacted to the government announcement. Pablo Casado said that the Spaniards will have to choose between a government that negotiates with Quim Torra (president of the Generalitat and leader of independence) and another that applies to 155, which is the article which allows the state to intervene politically on a community. autonomous, and this has already been applied in Catalonia after the referendum on the illegal independence of 1 October 2017.

Albert Rivera, president of Ciudadanos, asked Sánchez to go to the opposition to avoid another "Frankenstein government" backed by pro-independence forces. For her part, the MP for Podemos, Irene Montero, presented his party as "the useful vote" to avoid the return of "reactionaries".

The date of April 28 is the one that best suits the PSOE, complicates all the more its opponents, the PP, the Vox and the Cs, and its competitor, although finally allied, we can.

As stated in the Sanchez press conference, the PSOE's strategy will be to present itself as the main defender of "welfare state reconstruction". However, this position is debatable, at least from the point of view of the left. In the months leading up to the presentation of the national accounts, the Podemos formation was the one that exerted the strongest pressure on the Socialist leader to approve the increase of the SMI, or other measures that were tacitly reflected in the draft general budgets, such as badistance for the payment of electricity in vulnerable sectors and regulation of rent prices, which has grown exponentially over the last year thanks to to the expansion of Airbnb.

In any case, the PSOE will be able to defend initiatives such as the exhumation of the remains of the dictator Francisco Franco, who ratified this morning the Council of Ministers.

Another measure to be included in the campaign is to change some aspects of the reform of labor legislation by the government of Mariano Rajoy. In principle, the plan aimed to return priority to the sectoral agreement on the enterprise and to approve the compulsory registration of hours of work, among other measures. To approve them, it could be done by decree, but it will have to be approved by the National Congress.

The PP's strategy will be to succeed in maneuvering between the far right and the center. Two political specters where he hopes to catch votes. In the first case, recover a lot of disenchanted who were encouraged by Vox's radical speech on the union of Spain against independence. In the second, seduce the moderate voters who bet on Albert Rivera or Pedro Sánchez.

The case of the citizens presents a crossroad similar to that of the PP. At the last demonstration called by this party, with PP and Vox, to reject negotiations with the Generalitat of Catalonia, Albert Rivera is responsible for creating a liberal choreography with LGTBI flags behind him, in order to get rid of the Vox's radical conservatism, Santiago Abascal, with whom he was described for the main picture taken by the media about the call. On the other hand, he must measure that the electoral success gives him a position of rejection of the negotiations with the forces of the independence of Catalonia.

The left wing Podemos paves the way for an election campaign with an internal and an external front. Within the force, Pablo Iglesias must agglutinate the support of his leadership, which was destabilized after the announcement of Íñigo Errejón to compete for the Community of Madrid under another electoral brand. Externally, he must find a way to capitalize on the efforts made with the socialist government, whose greatest victory was the increase of the SIM. A few hours before the announcement of Sanchez, Pablo Iglesias had warned in his social networks that if the right bloc (Citizens, PP and Vox) managed to form a majority to reach the Moncloa, his project would be there and the strong hand to suppress conflicts arising from plurinationality ".

This Monday, two months of election campaign will open. The most recent political context suggests a tense scenario dominated by uncertainty.