Spain鈥檚 Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez delivers a statement at the Moncloa Palace in Madrid, Spain, Friday, Feb. 15, 2019. Sanchez has called early general elections for late April, the third such ballot in less than four years. (AP)
MADRID 鈥� Spain will elect its third government in less than four years after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez鈥檚 fragile socialist government acknowledged Friday its support had evaporated and called an early general election.
Sanchez鈥檚 eight-month-old administration met its end after failing to get parliament鈥檚 approval for its 2019 budget proposal earlier this week, adding to the political uncertainty that has dogged Spain in recent years.
鈥淏etween doing nothing and continuing without a budget, or giving the chance for Spaniards to speak, Spain should continue looking ahead,鈥� Sanchez said in a televised appearance from the Moncloa Palace, the seat of government, after an urgent Cabinet meeting.
The ballot will take place on April 28. It is expected to highlight the increasingly fragmented political landscape that has denied the European Union country a stable government in recent elections.
The 46-year-old prime minister ousted his conservative predecessor Mariano Rajoy last June, when he won a no-confidence vote triggered by a damaging corruption conviction affecting Rajoy鈥檚 Popular Party.
But the simple majority of Socialists, anti-austerity parties and regional nationalists that united against Rajoy crumbled in the past week after Sanchez broke off talks with the Catalan separatists over their demands for the independence of their prosperous northeastern region.
Sanchez saw the Catalan separatists join opposition lawmakers to vote down his spending plans, including social problems he had hoped would boost his party鈥檚 popularity.
Sanchez had the shortest term in power for any prime minister since Spain transitioned to democracy four decades ago.
Without mentioning Catalonia directly, Sanchez said he remained committed to dialogue with the country鈥檚 regions as long as their demands fell 鈥渨ithin the constitution and the law,鈥� which don鈥檛 allow a region to secede. He blamed the conservatives for not supporting his Catalan negotiations.
Popular Party leader Pablo Casado celebrated what he called the 鈥渄efeat鈥� of the Socialists, attacking Sanchez for yielding to some of the Catalan separatists鈥� demands.
鈥淲e will be deciding (in this election) if Spain wants to remain as a hostage of the parties that want to destroy it,鈥� or welcome the leadership of the conservatives, Casado said.
Catalonia鈥檚 regional government spokeswoman, Elsa Artadi, retorted that 鈥淪pain will be ungovernable as long as it doesn鈥檛 confront the Catalan problem.鈥�
Opinion polls indicate the April vote isn鈥檛 likely to produce a clear winner, a shift from the traditional bipartisan results that dominated Spanish politics for decades.
Although Sanchez鈥檚 Socialists appear to be ahead, their two main opponents 鈥� the Popular Party and the center-right Ciudadanos (Citizens) 鈥� could repeat their recent coalition in the southern Andalusia region, where they unseated the Socialists with the help of the far-right Vox party.
Vox last year scored the far-right鈥檚 first significant gain in post-dictatorship Spain, and surveys predict it could grab seats in the national parliament for the first time.
Vox鈥檚 leader, Santiago Abascal, vowed to use the election to 鈥渞econquer鈥� the future, a term that refers back to how Spanish Catholic kings defeated Muslim rulers in 15th-century Spain.
Meanwhile, the Socialists are unlikely to be able to form a new government even if they come to a coalition deal with the anti-establishment Podemos (We Can) party, so a third partner will likely be needed.
Sanchez鈥檚 options are limited. On the right, a deal with the Citizens party seemed off the table, as its leader Albert Rivera has vetoed any possible agreement with a Socialist party led by Sanchez himself.
And the prospect of Catalan nationalists joining any ensuing coalition is remote, both in the light of the recent failed talks and the ongoing trial of a dozen Catalan politicians and activists for their roles in an independence bid two years ago.
鈥淭he Socialists don鈥檛 want an election marked by Catalonia because the issue creates internal division, but right-wing parties will use it as a weapon,鈥� said Antonio Barroso of the Teneo consulting firm.
He said polls have erred in recent elections and that clever campaigning could swing the vote significantly.
鈥淭he only certainty 鈥� is that fragmentation is Spain鈥檚 new political reality,鈥� he said.