Spain reaches deal that will help it pass 2011 budget key to cutting deficit
By Daniel Woolls, APThursday, September 23, 2010
Spain government inches closer to budget support
MADRID — Spain’s government says it has struck a deal with a small opposition party that will help it pass the 2011 budget, which is key to its plan to bring borrowing under control.
The ruling Socialist party leads a minority government that relies on support from opposition parties on a case-by-case basis to get laws passed. The government has become more isolated of late as parties criticize its handling of Spain’s economic crisis.
Failure to pass a budget would be unprecedented and presumably force Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero to call early elections.
The ruling party’s spokesman in Parliament, Jose Antonio Alonso, announced Wednesday night a deal with the small Basque Nationalist Party that will probably guarantee its support for the budget.
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