Humphrey CarterPalma02/05/2019 16:45
TW

Election winner, although not with a clear majority, Pedro Sanchez, put a bit of a downer on May Day celebrations yesterday by announcing that he intends putting taxes up by more than 20 billion euros providing he succeeds in gathering the necessary support in parliament. Considering he has been unable to tack together enough support for his new budget over the past 18 months, it is unlikely that he will get sufficient backing for tax hikes, which he claims are much needed to maintain Spain’s rapid rate of economic growth.

Ideally, with local elections looming later this month, Sanchez would love to have a coalition government in place or at least in waiting. Yes, he has said that he would prefer to try and govern in a minority government alone, but many think he’s playing politics, just like the "liberals" Ciudadanos who have said they have no intention of forming a government with Sanchez. They may well also change their minds after the outcome of the municipal and regional elections.

It is far too early for parties to start saying no to possible coalitions. It will leave parties which made important gains, like the Cs, in limbo while leaving Sanchez with a difficult hand to play on his own. Unlike prior to Sunday’s elections, there are more parties on both sides in the mix and they could make Sanchez’s position extremely difficult.