Spanish Elections
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, President of Spain, has dissolved the Spanish Parliament and called elections for March 9th. Zapatero with the PSOE party, and Mariano Rajoy with the PP (Partido Popular–a descendent of Franco’s fascist party) are expected to be locked into a close race for the presidency. The International Herald Tribune has the story here
The PP and PSOE have been at odds throughout the government of Zapatero, who came to power in the elections shortly after the March 11th attacks on commuter trains in Madrid. The PP had been in control at the time of the attacks, and they proposed suspending elections, and still claim that the bombings were not the work of Al Qaeda, but rather a collaboration with ETA, the Basque separtist group. King Juan Carlos stepped in and assured the Spanish people that elections would not be affected by terrorists of any kind. The PSOE won an overwhelming majority in the election, based largely on its promise to withdraw all Spanish troops from Iraq if elected.
The PSOE has worked consistently to improve the rights of women, immigrants, the gay community and to continue to modernize Spain. The PP, closely allied with the Catholic Church, continues to push for reactionary measures, a retreat on social reforms, and increased control for the Church in public affairs (it is notable that the Church in Spain has the authority to fire public school teachers if they don’t align their private lives closely enough with Church doctrine. Last spring, in a closely followed case, the Supreme Court upheld the firing of a teacher who lived with a man with whom she was not married).