November election looms

PEDRO SANCHEZ, acting president of the Spanish government, ruled out a coalition with far-left Podemos.

Unless Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias backs Sanchez’s recently-announced programme, this heralds a November general election.

Sanchez said that he cannot trust Podemos following his defeat in an Investiture vote last July after talks centring on a governing alliance between Sanchez’s PSOE and Podemos broke down beforehand.

“Their vote blocking a socialist president for the fourth time has seriously accentuated mistrust,” Sanchez declared. “A coalition government isn’t feasible.”

He added that he was open to giving Podemos government posts outside the Cabinet and would allow the party to monitor the promised PSOE programme “closely,”

Pablo Iglesias responded that he does not trust Sanchez, arguing that the acting president failed to meet his commitments after the PSOE and Podemos joined forces to topple the Partido Popular’s Mariano Rajoy with a Vote of No Confidence last May.

“Politics can’t be based on trust, there have to be guarantees,” Iglesias said during an interview on Spain’s state broadcaster TVE.

“A coalition government is the only guarantee that policies destined to change people’s lives can be implemented.”