National
Mayor of Madrid calls for the Partido Popular to return to the centre
By h.b.
May 20, 2008 - 8:13 AM

The Mayor of Madrid, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, has made a call for the Partido Popular to move back to the political centre and repeated his support for Mariano Rajoy as leader.

Speaking in the presence of the party leader at the ABC Forum yesterday, he said that the only way back to power was from the centre, and Mariano Rajoy was the person to achieve it. He called for an atmosphere of ‘mutual respect and dialogue’ in the party. He said the centre could not only be a break in the history of the P.P.

Meanwhile the previous P.P. leader and Prime Minister, José María Aznar, who personally handpicked Rajoy to replace him has now said that the party needs cohesion and a strong leadership.

The leader of the PP in the Basque region, María San Gil, has now announced a regional congress for the party in July. Reports indicate that she has weakened support in the region since challenging the party’s move to the centre and, as she sees it, weakness in the face of the nationalist parties.