The Shadow of Aznar
larger | smaller
By h.b. - Mar 11, 2008 - 6:53 PM
José María Aznar is the reason why Mariano Rajoy has decided not to resign as leader of the Partido Popular

EDITORIAL COMMENT

There is one reason why the leader of the Partido Popular in Spain, Mariano Rajoy, has decided not to resign, and that is the previous leader of the party, José María Aznar.

We don’t know if Aznar actually wants Rajoy to stay on after his second election defeat at the hands of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, but we do know that José María Aznar himself was defeated twice before finally beating Felipe González at the ballot box on the third attempt.

It’s an example that Rajoy has well in mind, and because Rajoy was chosen as party leader by Aznar, picked personally, and because politicians in general hate to admit they have made a mistake, we are unlikely to hear any open criticism of his decision to stay from the previous Prime Minister.

After Mariano Rajoy had rung José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero on Sunday night to congratulate him on his victory, he told his Partido Popular supporters that he had wished the Socialist leader good luck, ‘for the good of Spain’.

Well Mariano, Spain deserves a strong government, and that means a strong opposition. A strong opposition does not mean what we have seen from you and your current team over the past four years of argument and protest.

If you really believe in the good of Spain, Sr. Rajoy, you will leave the post for those with greater talent than yourself, or at the very least you should replace those divisive members on the right wing of your party, such as Sr. Ácebes and Sr. Zaplana, whom we are told you kept as hidden as you could during the election campaign, out of your new team.

Click here for related stories

 mobile |  email this article |  printer friendly page

 del.icio.us |  digg |  technorati |  yahoo | Stumble It!
Facebook | Reddit | Newsvine | Meneame | Wikio
Blink | Google | Fresqui | MSN reporters | Live Spaces
My Space | Fark | Mixx | Twitter

Editorial/Opinion

Readers' comments:
Please keep to the subject. Opinions published here are of our visitors, not the Typically Spanish team. Comments which go against Spanish laws or which are libellous are not allowed. We reserve the right to delete any comment we wish. Placing a comment indicates you have read our terms and conditions and privacy policy .

Por favor, céntrate en el tema. Son las opiniones de los internautas, y no las de Typically Spanish. No está permitido verter comentarios contrarios a las leyes españolas o injuriantes. Reservado el derecho a eliminar los comentarios que consideremos fuera de tema. Escribir un comentario indica que has leído nuestros condiciones de uso y politica de privacidad .