The Government suspends the negotiation of the budgets for 29N: "We do not want it to be used for electoral purposes"

PalmaThe first vice president and government spokesperson, Antoni Costa, announced this Friday that he is suspending negotiations with the parliamentary groups to approve the 2027 budget, which is why the budget will be extended. "We do not want anyone to use this negotiation for electoral purposes, and for that reason, we are putting any conversation about the budget on hold until after the general elections," he explained in a press conference: "It is the only way to approach the negotiation with a possibility of reaching an agreement".

It has only been a week since Costa, Minister of Economy and Finance, began meetings with the parties. Although Vox, his preferred partner, had shown a willingness to move them forward, last Tuesday there was a spat between the vice president and the far-right spokesperson, Manuela Cañadas. After the deputy laid out Vox's conditions during the Government control session in Parliament, Costa reproached her for having broken the discretion regarding the negotiations. "We didn't expect this, we are beginning to think that the PP does not want to approve these budgets," sources from Vox told ARA Balears.

This Friday, Costa insisted on the same idea: "We had started the conversations with very clear conditions," he said: "The first is discretion, the second, to negotiate budgetary measures, and the third, a global agreement on the spending ceiling and the budgets." "We trusted that the electoral call would not interfere, but unfortunately this week we have seen that it is inevitable," he continued: "We have seen signs that have worried us, personally for me as Minister of Finance."

Thus, the vice president is leaving any approach to the groups for after November 29, the day of the elections. "Then we will see if it is possible or not to reach an agreement: I cannot anticipate anything concrete, but it is obvious that the Government has always wanted to approve the budgets," he insisted. "The elections came upon us and the conditions they are introducing," he remarked. Therefore, on January 1 there will be no budget, as to do so they would have to enter Parliament in the coming days. "We will enter 2027 with a budgetary extension and, if necessary, we will have to approve them later," he concluded.