Spanish PM opens door to early election

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez warned Tuesday he will call an early general election unless parliament approves his minority government's draft 2019 budget, which is being blocked by Catalan separatist parties. Sanchez, who took over in June from the conservative Mariano Rajoy after a surprise no-confidence vote, has up until now vowed to stay in office until 2020 when the next election is due. But his Socialist party controls just 84 seats in the 350-seat parliament, the smallest proportion for a government since the country returned to democracy following dictator Francisco Franco's death in 1975. For his draft budget to win approval, Sanchez needs the support of the parties that helped bring him to power in June, including Catalan separatists. They have so far steadfastly refused to back the spending plan which includes a big rise in the minimum wage. "If we are not able to approve the budget, my mission to serve until the end of my mandate will be undermined," the prime minister told a Madrid business conference. - Catalan opposition - The rise in the minimum wage would be "an important identity marker for a Socialist government like his" so failure to approve the budget would be a major setback for the government, Paloma Roman, a politics professor at Madrid's Complutense University, told AFP. Catalan separatist parties, which have lawmakers in the national parliament, are angry that prosecutors have called for pro-independence leaders to be jailed for up to 25 years over last year's failed secession bid in the wealthy northeastern region. They therefore refuse to cooperate with Sanchez on the budget. If the government fails to win approval for the budget, it could roll over this year's spending plan which was drawn up by the previous conservative government and try to pass some its announced measures by decree. But conservative opposition parties have strongly criticised this option. Sanchez's government has also struggled to move ahead with its plans to move Franco's remains from a vast mausoleum near Madrid to a more discreet location. Separately, an agreement with the conservative Popular Party (PP) to nominate judges to the Supreme Court fell apart on Tuesday. "Every day, a new front opens, which rattles him and could push him to call elections" which could allow him to win more seats in parliament, said Roman. "There is an accumulation of difficult situations, but the main cause (to call early elections), is that he can't pass his own budget." - May vote? - Transport Minister Jose Luis Abalos, a heavyweight in the Socialist party who is close to the prime minister, on Monday raised the possibility of calling snap polls to coincide with European, regional and municipal elections on May 26. Under Spanish law, Sanchez would have to do so by April 1 at the latest for the vote to be held on May 26. The Socialists are leading in opinion polls although surveys indicate they would still not win a majority in parliament. "There is a debate at the heart of the government between those who want to go to the polls and those who have more doubts," said Cristina Monge, a political scientist at the University of Zaragoza. Sanchez is among those who are more reluctant to go to the polls, since he would want to have more to show for his time in office, she added. She predicts the government will instead wait until the autumn of 2019 to go to the polls.