Zapatero leads the Spanish Socialist Workers Party to a second victory in the General Election

Zapatero leads the Spanish Socialist Workers Party to a second victory in the General Election
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By h.b. - Mar 10, 2008 - 7:16 AM

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero with a characteristic gesture from the campaign - Photo EFE

The Socialist party has also repeated its overall majority in the regional poll also carried out in Andalucía today

The PSOE, Socialist Workers Party has won the Spanish General Election with an increase in seats. The main conservative opposition, Partido Popular, also saw an increase in seat numbers, but was unable to reach the Socialist Party as other smaller left wing parties saw their vote slide. The PSOE gained five seats on the result in 2004, while the PP also gained five.

In his victory speech to supporters outside the Socialist Party headquarters in Madrid, José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero began by naming the people to have lost their lives to terrorism in Spain over the past four years, leading off with the name of Isaías Carrasco, the ex Socialist Councillor who was shot dead by ETA outside his home in Mondragón on Friday.
Zapatero hoped that the next four years would be less politically tense than the last legislature. He said that he would open a period of searching for agreements on matters of state – an obvious reference to try to reach a cross-party agreement against Basque terrorists ETA.
Zapatero said that he will govern for everybody, but thinking of those who do not have everything.

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero making his victory speech outside Socialist headquarters - Photo TVE

The results show a gain of six more seats in Congress for the main conservative opposition, Partido Popular, but the difference between the two parties remains at sixteen seats, with the polarised campaign taking its toll from the smaller parties, especially the left wing coalition IU, and the ERC Catalan Republican party. Turnout was just over 75%, identical to four years ago.

Several questions remain. Will the Partido Popular view the result as the second defeat for Mariano Rajoy, and thus see a grassroots call for him to go, or will the advance made be seen as enough to keep him in the post, despite the fact that the Mayor of Madrid, Alberto Ruiz Gallardón, is waiting in the wings. Indeed without the support of the voters in Madrid, the defeat of the Partido Popular would have been far greater.

An internet poll on the El Mundo news site this morning has 71% of voters saying that Mariano Rajoy should go as leader of the Partido Popular.

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero celebrates victory with his wife, Sonsoles - Photo EFE

In the same way it can be considered that the vote from the Catalan Socialists was key to the victory for Zapatero. Left wingers in both the Basque Country and Cataluña abandoned the far left to support the Socialists.

The defeat of the left wingers IU, saw the leader of the coalition, Gaspar Llamazares, admit a defeat he described as a failure, and say he will not be standing for re-election as the coordinator of IU. He said the coalition had been victim to what he called the two party tsunami. IU has lost three deputies and remains with only two seats in Congress.

The face of defeat, the Coordinator of left wing coalition IU, Gaspar Llamazares, who said he would not stand to lead the party again - Photo EFE

With 99.9 percent of the votes counted the result gives the Socialist party 169 seats, five more than before, and the Partido Popular 153, five more than four years ago.
PP leader Mariano Rajoy said that he had rung the José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero to wish him luck, as he put it ‘for the good of Spain’.

Over 25,514,000 votes were cast, taking turnout to 75.32%.

Full results in percent this year, (percent in 2004), votes and seats.
P.S.O.E. – Socialist Party 43,36 – (42.64%) 11,064,524 169
P.P. – Partido Popular 39,85 – (37.64%) 10,169973 153
CiU – Catalan Convergencia y Union - 3,03 – (3.24%) 774,317 11
EAJ-PNV – Basque Nationalist party - 1,18 – (2.54%) 303,246 6
ESQUERRA – Catalan Republicans - 1,16 – (1.63%) 296,473 3
I.U. – Left wing coalition - 3,77 – (4.96%) 936040 2
B.N.G. – Basque Nationalist Party - 0,81% 209,042 2
CC-PNC – Canary Islands Coalition - 0,64% 164,255 2
UPyD – New Party – Rosa Diez - 1,22 298499 1
NA-BAI – Navarra party - 0,25 62073 1
CA 0,28 67584 -
EA 0,20 49821 -
C's 0,18 43956 -

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