In bid to oust PM, Spain's PSOE says it will respect most budget commitments
The leader of Spain's Socialist PSOE party has said he will stick to the recently-approved 2019 Budget Law if MPs support his no-confidence vote against the Prime Minister.
Pedro Sanchez made the remarks in the lower house of the Spanish Parliament on Thursday morning, as lawmakers debated the merits of his no-confidence motion against PM Mariano Rajoy, the leader of the PP party.
His words marked a departure from statements made by some of his lieutenants in the days running up to the vote, regarding the need to wait "for some months" before calling fresh elections, given the need to promote what they termed a "social agenda".
That included bigger increases in minimum wages and tying pensions payments to consumer price inflation, among other measures (the budget already included measures to trim austerity).
In the past, the Socialist party has also been a very vocal critic of the current administration's labour market reforms.
For some observers, Sanchez's remarks might allow him to clinch the support of Basque nationalist (PNV) - but centre-right - MPs.
Without the backing of the PNV, Sanchez was not expected to be able to garner sufficient parliamentary support.
Also helping Sanchez's chances, the day before the new Catalan President had nominated new ministers for his regional cabinet, in the hope that it might pave the way for Madrid to restore the region's autonomy.
In political terms, some local observers said that might shield Sanchez from accusations that he was relying on the support of secessionists - the support of whose MPs in parliament he also required - in order to unseat the PM.
PSOE was also negotiating with Ciudadanos for their support - which would obviate the need to seek the support of the PNV or Catalan nationalists parties (PdeCat and ERC) - but the Centrist party led by Albert Rivera had indicated it would only vote to oust Rajoy if elections were called immediately afterwards.
According to Ciudadanos, PSOE had not won the last elections and would therefore be imposing its political agenda if it did not call elections.
Nevertheless, the most recent poll results showed PP support was rapidly fading in the wake of the latest preliminary court sentence against it.
Far-left Podemos had already pledged its unconditional support.
On a slightly more hopeful note, Spain's economy appeared to be on much surer footing than just a couple of years ago as the recovery had gained traction, despite the multiple domestic headwinds on the political front.