警校毕业生自我鉴定:Spain's Zapatero opts out of 2012 election, s...

来源：百度文库编辑：九乡新闻网时间：2024/07/15 00:23:31

Spain's Zapatero opts out of 2012 election, seeking to unburden party

11:39, April 03, 2011

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The file photo taken on March 25, 2011 shows Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero smiles after EU Summit in Brussels, capital of Belgium. The announcement by Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero that he will not be the candidate for the Socialist Party (PSOE) in the 2012 general election is a move that shows a long term point of view. (Xinhua/Wu Wei)

The announcement by Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero that he will not be the candidate for the Socialist Party (PSOE) in the 2012 general election is a move that shows a long term point of view.

The move, which was made at a meeting of the Federal Committee of the PSOE, opens the door for primary elections in which the party will choose a new leader to, hopefully, lead them into a third term in office.

Zapatero's decision, which came before May's local and regional elections in Spain, brings to an end a period in which the speculation over Zapatero's future was increasing to the point of being the focus of the country's political debate. As a result it was deflecting attention away from the fiscal and structural reforms that Zapatero has pushed through with a view to leading Spain out of the economic crisis which has left over 4.1 million Spaniards out of work.

The crisis has been the defining event of Zapatero's seven years in office and in the end it has been the key factor in provoking his decision not to stand for a third term.

Spain's economic situation forced Zapatero in recent years to adopt a much more conservative social and economic policy than his center-left principals would have preferred.

Zapatero's first instinct at the beginning of the crisis was to adopt a policy of public spending with the aim of staving off the worst effects of the economic downturn. His Plan2000E saw a series of public works projects undertaken all over the country as well as well as giving economic incentives to car buyers in an attempt to stimulate Spain's suffering car industry.

That initiative was brought to an end by the alarming national deficit, which brought a sea change in government policy and a shift to the right.

Zapatero was forced to bring in changes which saw public employees forced to take pay cuts of five percent, as well as reducing public services.

His government also altered employment laws to make it easier for companies to make workers redundant should economic results decline. Although this was done with the aim of stimulating employment, it met with rejection from the country's unions, who called the first general strike of the Zapatero era on September 29 last year, threatening to ruin relations between the PSOE and their traditional grassroots support.

A reform of the pensions system which will see the retirement age rise from 65 to 67 years old by 2027, threatened to further damage relations, but a series of meetings earlier this year saw unions, government and employers organizations negotiate a social pact, which appears to have restored cordial relations.

However, it is obvious that the crisis has harmed the PSOE. Zapatero was forced to carry out a major cabinet re-shuffle in October 2010, which saw Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba replace Maria Teresa de la Vega as vice-president and Government spokesperson

De la Vega, along with Zapatero, had been the public face of the economic crisis and her departure for Rubalcaba, the most highly valued member of the cabinet in opinion polls, thanks to his role in the struggle against Basque separatist group ETA, left Zapatero to be the man seen as responsible for the economic situation and as such as a possible electoral handicap for the Socialists.

Zapatero's strategy has been to take the criticism, while leaving other members of his government such as Rubalcaba and Defense Minister Carne Chacon relatively free of the fallout from the economic situation, analysts say.

Rubalcaba and Chacon have already emerged as the front-runners to succeed Zapatero as the PSOE candidate in 2012. At the moment it looks as if they have a difficult task to beat the opposition Popular Party, but as Zapatero's reforms continue to take effect,a new leader will be able to take all of the positives from the next 12 months.

The PSOE will suffer in the local and regional elections next month, but Zapatero's decision could have given them a lifeline for 2012, analysts say. At the end, that is his final gift to the party.

Source: Xinhua

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