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Budget: Lesser of two evils

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Iglesias and Colau appeal to PDeCAT and ERC to approve next year’s Spanish budget, to avoid elections which could hand power to PP, Ciudadanos and Vox

If PDeCAT and ERC do not support Pedro Sánchez’s budget proposals for next year, the resulting elections could play out in one of two ways: with a democratic majority working together to put the brakes on the far-right, then debating the current numbers again, or, with a government taken over by a right and far-right coalition made up of the PP, Ciudadanos and Vox. This was the hypothesis put forward yesterday by Podemos general secretary, Pablo Iglesias. He was speaking from Nou Barris, in Barcelona, with the mayor, Ada Colau, who raised the spectre of an ultra-right tripartite taking power, and proceeding to relocate political prisoners away from Catalan penitentiaries, outlaw political parties and extend their taste for imprisonment beyond the independence movement. “Many of us could end up in jail. They’ll invent excuses, do whatever it takes. For every pro-independence supporter, there is someone ready to brand them a ‘populist’ or some other barbarity.” Iglesias defended the Spanish government’s budget proposals, arguing their benefits for Catalans include an increase in minimum wage, new unemployment benefits for those over 52, support for local councils to bring rents down, and VAT reductions on feminine hygiene products and veterinarian services. Iglesias made it clear that support from Catalonia would come with expectations. Sánchez should see “that the Catalan question can only have a democratic solution, and will never be resolved with repression or prison”. Iglesias even invited Sanchez to visit the ERC leader, in Lledoners prison, or to speak with Carles Puigdemont by phone.

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