(Bloomberg) -- Spanish acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez rejected a fresh proposal by anti-establishment party Podemos to form a new government to approve the country's budget, giving him the chance to break the agreement afterward without having to forgo Podemos' parliamentary support, El Pais newspaper reported, citing unidentified people in the Socialist Party.
Podemos' leader called Sanchez to make the proposal, Pablo Echenique, a Podemos official who's led his party's negotiators in unfruitful talks with the socialists aimed at forming a government, said in a Twitter post.
“Let's approve the budget, and if after that Pedro Sanchez considers that we've got to leave the government, we'll do it and we'll keep the parliamentary collaboration,” Echenique said.
Sanchez wants to have the support he'll need to be confirmed as prime minister guaranteed in advance, acting Deputy Prime Minister Carmen Calvo said earlier Thursday.
King Felipe will start a round of consultations with political leaders Sept. 16-17 to assess whether to propose Sanchez for a new investiture vote. If no prime minister is elected before Sept. 23, the country in November will hold its fourth election in as many years.
To contact the reporter on this story: Thomas Gualtieri in Madrid at tgualtieri@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Charles Penty at cpenty@bloomberg.net, Robert Jameson
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