Conservatives keep uncharacteristically quiet
The government is in trouble, its President is struggling with a huge crisis, so the Spanish conservative party, El Partido Popular is getting excited.
However, its leader, Mariano Rajoy, has hardly been seen in public over the past few weeks, since the government announced its policy to reform pensions.
Though his PP followers are putting pressure on him to ask for the upcoming elections, Zapatero’s resignation or even a “motion of censure”, Rajoy has been strangely hesitant and it is making the party nervous.
A good example was a political meeting (in Spanish, a “mitin”, seriously) in Granada where the PP leader was due to speak. Around 10,000 supporters gathered and expected fireworks in Rajoy’s speech; they were soundly disappointed.
Instead, Rajoy weaselled out completely:
We have to keep the peace and remain calm. The Government isn’t doing it, so the PP must.
What I want is for Zapatero to come to Parliament and tell us what he’s going to do and how he’s going to do it.
He then went on to talk about his own “plan”, without divulging a single element of this supposed agenda.
Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, (PP parliamentary spokesperson) and Mariano Rajoy in the Congreso
A few days later, Zapatero did come to Parliament, as he has done on more occasions than any of his predecessors, the debate took place, yet the PP took a back seat. Instead, it was a group of Catalan ‘nationalists’ that was most fierce in its criticism, in an attempt to steal PP votes when elections soon take place in Catalonia. The Partido Popular remained almost silent throughout, preferring to speculate in the newspapers about the timing of those particular elections.
The PP is avoiding at all cost that public debate shifts focus onto their Opposition. At the moment, the pressure is on the government as it is forced to make tough decisions and strict measures. When a journalist finally managed to get hold of the Partido Popular’s parliamentary spokesperson, Esteban González Pons and ask why, if the government is fairing so poorly, they not ask for the forthcoming regional elections, he was told:
“Zapatero has a mandate and a parliamentary majority. We are a constructive opposition. So we are going to listen to him, and if they [the PSOE] ask for our help, they will have it.”
Coincidentally, ZP did ask for help on his Economic Recovery Package, in my previous post, but such help was not forthcoming. The debate on the economic crisis was quite technocratic, particularly ZP’s speech.
The strategy is quite clear; Rajoy wants to project an image of tranquillity against the frantic pace the Socialist Government is setting. The PP is currently around 45% against the PSOE’s 40% in the polls, and the “plan” seems to be to keep quiet and wait for a victory in expected regional and local elections to act as a springboard in 2012.