National
The Partido Popular opposition leader faces the pubic on live TV
By h.b.
Apr 20, 2007 - 8:21 AM

It was the turn of the leader of the Partido Popular to face 100 questions from the public in a live TV programme, ‘Tengo una pregunta para usted’.

Mariano Rajoy moved around the set far more than the Prime Minister, José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who was the programmes first guest two weeks ago, but he often failed to answer the question specifically asked.

Rajoy faced many questions about the behaviour of the previous PP administration after the Madrid Train Bombings, leading him to say that the arrests of the bombers were made during the time of the PP Government, and that he understood that when the voting in the General Election took place two days later, the Spanish people knew who had been responsible. Rajoy insisted that the then interior minister, Angel Acebes, did not lie to the public in his statements about ETA after the bombings. Rajoy insisted he had full respect for the National Court and its conclusions, but when asked if ETA were linked to the bombings, replied ‘I don’t know’.

Still on the subject of ETA, Rajoy asked why the Prime Minister has announced he will call him for talks in June – ‘Why not tomorrow?’ he said.

Asked about the PP’s policy on gay rights, Rajoy declared that if his child was gay he would go to his wedding and support him.

One of the public said to Rajoy ‘I have a 300 € pension, how much do you earn?’, to which the PP leader said ‘Quite a lot more than that’ and when asked if he knew how many people had died in Iraq, responded ‘a lot’. He said the Iraq war was a mistake made by ‘all the international community’.

An Internet poll on the website 20minutos.es says the Prime Minister was the better of the two guests on the programme, but other newspapers show polls which follow their editorial lines.