National
José Bono elected as President of Congress as the new legislature begins
By h.b.
Apr 1, 2008 - 12:40 PM

José Bono has today become the first President of the Spanish lower house of Parliament, the Congress, to be elected without an overall majority since the times of democracy in Spain.

Two rounds of voting were required for him to be elected to the post, equivalent to that of Speaker in the U.K., with the ex Minister for Defence obtaining 170 votes in the second round, compared to 152 for the Partido Popular candidate, Ana Pastor. There were 26 null or blank votes in what was a secret ballot.

José Bono will now preside over what will be the 9th legislature. He is an established and popular politician in Spain who was the regional president of Castilla-La Mancha from 1983 to 2004. He followed that with two years as Minister for Defence, after which he had supposedly left politics to spend more time with his family. A practicing Catholic, he has always said that there is nothing incompatible with being a Christian and a Socialist.

Meanwhile the Socialist Senator Javier Rojo has been re-elected as President of the upper chamber, the Senate, obtaining 134 votes from the 253 total.