Sanchez assesses to advance elections | President …

The president of the Spanish government, the Socialist Pedro Sanchez, is studying the legislative elections, even at a date already in mid-April, if the blockade of right-wing parties and Catalan separatists persists in the budgets of 2019.

This possibility, put forward yesterday by sources of the executive, centered the political debate yesterday in Spain, less than 24 hours after the beginning of the trial of the secessionist attempt in Catalonia and after the mbad demonstration organized Sunday by the parties of right to request the celebration of new elections.

The electoral advance would be the most likely scenario of not going ahead with the state budgets of 2019, which have for the moment the explicit rejection of the Congress of the State. 39, central and right opposition (Citizens and Popular Party) and Catalan separatist parties (PDeCAT and ERC).

Sánchez (PSOE) joined the head of the Spanish government in June 2018 after a motion of censure against the conservative Mariano Rajoy (PP) supported by leftist groups and Basque and Catalan nationalists, in full legislature is scheduled for the middle of 2020 But the PP and citizens have escalated their pressure on Sanchez in Parliament and at street protests for the elections to unfold, arguing that he can not stay in power with the support of Catalan separatists.

Spain will hold local, regional and European elections on May 26, but regional leaders of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) have asked Sanchez not to badociate them with legislative elections, so that the former are not "contaminated" by the national debate, especially with the political crisis in the region of Catalonia.

Sanchez said yesterday that Catalan separatists and right-wing parties will vote against the 2019 budgets and asked if the two peoples lived better in the confrontation than in the search for solutions. The head of government and socialist leader said on Twitter that "politics creates strange links" because "the independence movement will vote against good social budgets for Catalonia and the right against social budgets beneficial for Spain" .

"Could they live better in confrontation than in solutions?" Said Sanchez, who also recalled that the independence of Catalonia "is not constitutional nor that the majority of Catalans want it ".

These reflections of the head of the executive are held at the beginning of a crucial week for the survival of his government, which enjoys low parliamentary support (the Socialists hold 84 seats out of 350 in Congress).

On the one hand, today begins the debate on the amendments to the total state budgets for 2019 and, in addition, the trial in the Supreme Court against twelve politicians and social leaders of Catalonia for their participation in the secessionist process 2017, in which the prosecution asks some of them for sentences of up to 25 years in prison. According to the Independents, the trial will result in the outcome of a procedure of "irregularities and violations of rights" and will be a stumbling block in the dialogue maintained during these months with the Spanish executive (see separately).

The president of the Catalan regional government, Joaquim Torra, insisted yesterday that the recognition of the "right to self-determination" and other points demanded by the separatists would be the key to a hypothetical support. in favor of budgets. His "number two", Elsa Artadi, described shortly after "the balloon investigation" the news of a possible electoral advance and blamed Sanchez for not having resumed dialogue with the Catalan autonomous government.

"If the government of Pedro Sanchez has any interest in the independence groups of Madrid helping to process budgets, instead of sending balloon probes, you should contact the independence groups ", which" does not happen, "he said.

ERC (leftist independence) also asked Sanchez "to resume the path of unconditional dialogue and resignations" with the Catalan executive and warned that if the possible electoral advance is a form of "pressure", it will not be used to approve the budgets.