José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's years as an opposition leader

Main article: José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero

File:PsoeZapatero.jpg

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero at a meeting in San Sebastián

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero was appointed President of Spain on March 14, 2004. His period as an opposition leader had started four years previously.

Appointment as Secretary General

In 2000, the Socialist Party (PSOE) had lost its second successive election to José María Aznar's People's Party. The defeat was specially bitter as the People's Party unexpectedly obtained an absolute majority for the first time and the socialist result was worse than in the previous election. Joaquín Almunia, the Socialist candidate and successor of Felipe González as leader of the party, announced his resignation on the very day the General Election took place. (See Spanish legislative election, 2000).

Zapatero decided to run for the leadership of the Socialist Party in its 35th Conference to be celebrated in June that year. He founded together with other socialists a new faction within the party called Nueva Vía (New Way) in April 2000, to serve him as a platform to become Secretary General. The name of Nueva Vía is a mix of Tony Blair's Third Way (tercera vía in Spanish) and Gerhard Schröder's Neue Mitte (new center or nuevo centro in Spanish). [OCAM p. 232]

A document of New Way proclaimed the group objectives: "New Way' wants to generate a project of political and social change for and from democratic socialism, a Socialist project to allow the PSOE to recover its credibility and the citizens' trust." [OCAM p. 234]

The members of Nueva Vía had, on average, 40 years. Among the most prominent of them were Zapatero, Trinidad Jiménez, Jesús Caldera, Jordi Sevilla, José Blanco, Antonio Cuevas, Enrique Martínez, etc. [OCAM p. 229]. Enrique Martínez was a fundamental asset for Zapatero. He was the director of the "Escuela Jaime Vera" a school belonging to the party that prepares Socialist Leaders. His network of contacts became essential. [OCAM p. 236]

On June 25, 2000 Zapatero announced officially his intention to run for the federal Secretaryship General in an Extraordinary Conference of the Socialist Party of León [OCAM p. 244]. In his speech, he stated what can be considered his declaration of principles [OCAM p. 245]:

1. To build a society that would accept all foreigners notwithstanding their color or cultural level.
2. To give priority to education and to create good jobs for youngsters.
3. To provide parents with more time to spend with their children and in taking care of their elders.
4. To promote culture and its creators, making it possible for them to grab the spotlight from those aimed only at economic interests.
5. To convert Spain into a country admired for helping those with more needs.
6. To force the government to help those with initiative and enterprising qualities.
7. To foster democracy, to lend distinction to politics and to promote values over temporary interests.

Pasqual Maragall was the only regional leader of the Socialist Party^[1] who officially supported him before the Conference was celebrated. Josep Borrell, an important Socialist leader who had been chosen to be the candidate of the Socialist Party for the 2000 electin (although he was finally substituted with Joaquín Almunia]]), also decided to support him. [OCAM p. 253]

Zapatero ran against three other opponents (José Bono, Rosa Díez and Matilde Fernández). Matilde Fernández was the candidate of the guerristas (an important faction of the Socialist Party, characterized for its left-wing leanings) while José Bono was the candidate of the reformers. Rosa Díez is a Basque politician who was a kind of intermediate option.

Zapatero was a dark horse who had against him his inexperience and in favor his image of renovation and being the only [Member of Parliament|MP] among the candidates. (All the Spanish opposition leaders have been MPs before winning the elections. That is very important in Spanish politics where electoral campaigns last for only 15 days and to be widely known long before they begin is essential.) Bono was deeply disliked by the guerristas, what also favored Zapatero significantly.

He finally won by a relatively small margin (he obtained 414 votes out of 995 and José Bono obtained 405) on July 22, 2000 [2]. The margin was relatively small because Bono had no opportunity of winning, as the supporters of the other two candidates preferred Zapatero to him. Zapatero was so sure of his victory that, before the ballot, he even accepted to renounce to hold a run-off between the two most voted candidates, in order not to humiliate his adversary and foster unity.

After being elected secretary general, he was congratulated by Lionel Jospin (then the French Prime Minister), Gerhard Schröder (chancellor of Germany) and José María Aznar [OCAM p. 287].

He moved to Madrid with his family that year. As a congressman he had lived from Monday to Thursday in Madrid and the rest of days in León. [OCAM p. 201]

Style of opposition

Zapatero has always claimed to base his political activity on his love for dialog. When he was an opposition leader, he liked to compare his behavior with the "arrogant", "authoritarian" approach of the People's Party and, especially, that of his leader José María Aznar.

As a result, after being appointed Secretary General, he coined the term Calm Opposition (Oposición Tranquila) to refer to his opposition strategy. The Calm Oppostion was supposedly based on an "open to dialogue", "soft", "constructive" attitude (talante) aimed not at damaging the government but at achieving the "best" for the people. (Zapatero has insisted on this point so many times that the term talante has become very popular in Spain.) Because of this supposed tactic, Zapatero received nicknames like "[Bambi]" or "Sosoman" (where "Soso" -- meaning dull, insipid, bore -- replaces "Super" in "Superman"), especially in the first months after being appointed General Secretary.

During Zapatero's years as an opposition leader (and later as Prime Minister), the tension between left-wing and right-wing supporters increased and, according to some opinions, a real radicalization of the society took (and is taking) place ^[3]. Zapatero's supporters blame his opponents for that and the People's Party blames him stating facts as the increase in the acts of violence committed against them, especially in the months before and during the Iraq war [4]. As a result, a new term has become popular: guerracivilismo [5] (made up of a combination of the Spanish for Civil War and the -ismo suffix, equivalent to the English -ism), which would refer to the growing enmity of right and left-wing factions.

As an opposition leader Zapatero enjoyed the support of an important part of the Spanish media and, especially, those belonging to the PRISA group such as the daily newspaper El País, the chain of radio stations that form the SER (Sociedad Española de Radiodifusión) or the TV channel Canal+. The PRISA group is controlled by Jesús de Polanco (one of the richest man in Spain) who has been linked to the Socialist Party in the past years. It has been claimed that he controls more media in Spain than Berlusconi in Italy. [6]

Years 2000 and 2001

Zapatero's criticism against the government was very active from the beginning. His first attack against the government was based on its inability to control the rise in the price of fossil fuel. He asked for a reduction in the taxes affecting it.

In 2000, the British nuclear submarine HMS Tireless arrived at the Gibraltar harbor to have its nuclear reactor repaired. Aznar's affirmed that there was no risk for the population but Zapatero criticized it for his inability to force the British government to take the submarine to another harbor. After almost one year, the Tireless was repaired and left Gibraltar without having caused any known problem. [7] [8].

Another point of friction came from the scheme to transfer water from the River Ebro to other areas especially the irrigated areas in the South East of Spain, one of the richest agricultural regions in the world. That scheme received support from, among others, the 80% of the affected farmers and the Socialist regional governments of regions such as Extremadura, Andalusia or Castilla-La Mancha, which were, among others, the target of the scheme. Some Socialist politicians also supported it when they were members of the former Socialist government back in the 90s (e.g. José Borrell, the current leader of the European Spanish Socialist Group and president of the European Parliament [9]). The scheme was mainly contested by Zapatero, environmentalist groups, the Socialist regional government of Aragon and a part of the citizens of the areas from which water was to be transferred. The main criticisms against the scheme were the supposed damage to the environment and an argued real lack of sufficient water for all of the affected parties (the proponents of the scheme answered back that there was no risk of a serious environmental damage and that in 2003 14 times more water reached the sea than what was needed annually). (The scheme, finally approved by the Government, was canceled by Zapatero soon after becoming Prime Minister.)

Zapatero was the main proponent of the "Pacto de las Libertades contra el Terrorismo" ("Pact of the liberties against terrorism"), which was signed on December 8, 2000. In the first moment this pact was despised and rejected but later was considered a primal stone in the strategy against the Basque terrorism in Spain not only by the Socialist Party but by the People's Party (currently, it is considered broken by the People's Party). Zapatero's harder critics have defended that the Pact was originated by the wish of the People's Party and the Socialist Party to bury the Socialist ambiguity towards Nationalist Parties caused by the need the Socialist Party had of their votes.

At the end of the year, the Mad Cow disease came back to the spotlight after its outbreak in 1996. Zapatero repeatedly criticized the Government's management of the crisis arguing that it was out of control [10]. That disease has caused dozens of deaths all over Europe though none in Spain (March 2005).

In 2001 one of the biggest friction points between the government and the opposition was the proposed reforms affecting the education system. The People's Party introduced the so-called LOU first, a law to change the University System, and later the LOCE (Organic Act for Education Quality), which affected the Secondary Education. Zapatero harshly opposed both. The People's Party used its absolute majority in the Cortes to pass its reforms but after it had taken place an important number of protests by unions of students, which enjoyed an unusual attention of the public media although their protests had usually passed unnoticed until Zapatero's arrival.

A regional election was held in the Basque country on May 13, 2001. The socialists received 17.8% of the vote (against 17.6% in the previous 1998 elections) but lost one seat. Both, the Socialist Party and the People's Party had formed an alliance against the then ruling nationalist Basque political movements but they finally won again. The results were considered a failure [OCAM p. 319]. Nicolás Redondo Terreros, the Basque Socialist leader during the election and very opposed to the Basque nationalism and to ETA, resigned after some internal clashes, leaving his seat at the Basque parliament and in the Federal Executive. He was substituted with Patxi López, elected on March 24, 2002 [OCAM p. 320]. Patxi López had actively supported Zapatero during his campaign to become Secretary General [OCAM p. 257].

On October 21, 2001 took place a new regional election, this time in Galicia. The People's Party (led by Manuel Fraga Iribarne) obtained a new absolute majority. The Socialist party increased its number of seats from 15 to 17, but, after several years of being opposition the results were also considered bad. [OCAM p. 321]. These two negative results seemed to confirm that Zapatero's approach was not working.

On December 19, 2001 Zapatero traveled to Morocco, after the Moroccan government expelled the Spanish ambassador sine die. Javier Arenas, a prominent member of the People's Party, accused him of not being loyal to Spanish interests. Zapatero denied it and claimed that one of his purposes was to help solve the crisis [OCAM p. 327].

From 2002 to 2004

In 2002, Zapatero was chosen as the Socialist candidate for the next General Election. He was appointed directly, without a previous primary election ^[11].

In 2002 the People's Party Government decided to reform the system of unemployment benefits as it thought that there were too many workers who being able to find a job preferred to continue receiving public money. This led to a redefinition of who were eligible for unemployment subsidies. Left-wing parties and trade unions considered that redefinition an unacceptable reduction of rights. Zapatero became the political leader of the opposition against the reform (dubbed the Decretazo, becaused it was passed using a decree-law), which served him as his first important clash with Aznar's government.

A General Strike was announced for June 20, 2002 (the first since Aznar won the election in 1996). According to official data (including the electrical power consumption and the number of worked man-days calculated by the Social Security) the turnout was lower than 15%, the lowest since the restoration of democracy (there were four General Strikes during Felipe González premiership). The unions and Zapatero disbelieved the data and considered the strike a resounding success, with more than "10 million" workers. Whatever the result, both the People's Party government and the trade unions signed an agreement that satisfied both parties in November.

Felipe González declared in May 2002 in reference to the change in the Socialist Party that "My state of mind tells me that a change has taken place, that perhaps a second Suresnes ^[12] has happened, but it has yet to be proved that a new project with content and ideas really exists", thus doubting Zapatero's leadership. That declaration was expressed in a public event also attended by Zapatero, who calmly expressed his disagreement. González ended his intervention by remembering that his candidate for Secretary General was José Bono, not Zapatero. González rectified the next day affirming that either his words had been incorrectly construed or he had expressed his ideas erroneously. Bono himself confirmed his total support for Zapatero. [OCAM p. 310-311] The incident seemed to confirm that Zapatero's strategy was not working.

On October 22, 2002 Zapatero spoke in the name of the Socialist Party during the debate about the National Budget. It had been initially scheduled that Jordi Sevilla would be the Socialist spokesman but, in the last moment, he was substituted by surprise. When Jordi Sevilla, after being called by the speaker, had already descended to the floor of the Congress of Deputies, Zapatero said to him "let me do it" and climbed to the orator platform. Aznar and other members of the People's Party had previously criticized him for not representing his party in the debate, suggesting a lack of the necessary political skills. Zapatero tried to prove it was false, and it seems that his action had quite a positive effect over his supporters; although the People's Party considered his action too theatrical [OCAM p. 316].

In November 2002, the oil tanker Prestige suffered an accident in international waters^[13] near Galicia (a region in the Northwestern tip of Spain) that caused a grave oil slick which mainly affected Galicia, but also, in a lesser degree all the northern coast of Spain, and even the coast of France. The tanker was ordered by the governmental authorities to be moved away from the coast because it seems that the oil is easier to recover from the water than from the sand - for example, there exist special ships prepared for that - and increasing the distance increases the affected area but decrease the number of irremediably affected places. The Prestige finally split and sank.

Zapatero blamed the PP Government management during and after the accident [14] for the accident. The decision to take the tanker away was especially criticized as Zapatero expressed it to be unnecessary. Although the Prestige was very old and in a very bad state, Zapatero thought that it should have be allowed to enter a harbor.

The accident and its consequences became the main source of Socialist criticisms and the biggest friction point, together with Iraq, until the election of 2004. A Socialist MP in the Regional Assembly of Madrid, Antonio Carmona, declared soon after the catastrophe: "We have more than enough votes, if not, we will sink another boat". [15]. He resigned because of this declarations. Jesús Caldera, who became a minister after the victory in 2004, used a manipulated document relative to the route of the Prestige in a parliamentary debate about the catastrophe, what was very criticized by the People's Party [OCAM p. 340]. These events were used by the People Party's "to demonstrate" the "demagogical strategy" of the Socialist Party.

Probably, the main point of friction between Aznar and Zapatero was the war on Iraq. Opinion polls showed that a clear majority of Spanish voters were against the American led attack against Saddam's regime (near or surpassing 90%). Among them, Zapatero who considered illegal any action against Saddam Hussein's regime and the very concept of preemptive war. Zapatero never made public his own solutions to solve the several problems affecting Iraq after its defeat in Kuwait such as the fear caused by the suspected existence of WMD or the embargo affecting the Middle East country.

His first clash with the United States is related to his stance about the war. On October 12, 2003 (Spanish national holiday) he remained sat before the American flag carried by a representation of the American army taking part in the annual military parade. He declared afterwards that his action was a protest against the Iraq war and not an insult to the American people.

On May 25, 2003, the first local and regional elections since Zapatero's appointment as leader of the Socialist party took place. The Socialist Party received a larger popular vote (what prompted Zapatero to claim his party had been the winner) but the People's Party obtained more government posts in councils and regional governments. In general, there were not too many changes in the results compared to those of the previous Elections held in 1999. An unexpected scandal, the so-called Scandal of the Madrid Assembly, affected negatively the socialist expectations of a victory in 2004. The elections in the Region of Madrid, one of the most important of Spain, had to be repeated and they were won by the People's Party. Later, in October, a regional election took place in Catalonia, whose results were worse than expected for the Socialist Party (See Zapatero and the Local and Regional Elections of 2003).

On May 26, 2003 a Yakovlev Yak-42 plane carrying Spanish soldiers coming home from Afghanistan crashed in Turkey. The plane had been hired by an agency of the NATO and any other country could have used it. In Zapatero's view it presented clear dangers and he blamed Jose Maria Aznar and his government for neglecting aspects like the plane insurance or safety. After the 2004 March elections it was proven that there had been serious irregularities when recognizing the bodies with an important number of mistakes in the identifications. [16] [17]

Concerning the European Constitution, Zapatero criticized the People's Party Government for fighting to preserve the distribution of power agreed by the Nice treaty (December 2000) in the new European Constitution. Zapatero thought that Spain should accept a lesser share of power.

At end of 2003 and the beginning of 2004 the Spanish political parties started to prepare themselves for the general election of 2004. All of the opinion polls elaborated at the time foreseen a defeat for Zapatero, as they always predicted a new victory for the People's Party. (See Zapatero and the 2004 General Election)

References

• (OCAM) Óscar Campillo Madrigal. Zapatero. Presidente a la Primera. 1st ed. updated. (La Esfera de los Libros, Spain, April 2004). ISBN 84-9734-193-7.

See also

• History of Spain
• Politics of Spain
• Catalan constitutions
• Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
• Spanish legislative election, 2004.
• Zapatero's early years (1960-2000)
• Zapatero and the Local and Regional Elections of 2003
• Zapatero and the 2004 General Election
• Zapatero's foreign policy
• Zapatero's domestic policy

External links

• Text of the Pact Against Terrorism (in Spanish).

Notes

1. ^ The regional leaders of the Socialist Party are typically called barones (singular 'barón') in Spanish.
2. ^ Upon being elected, Zapatero promised that primary elections would be used to elect candidates in the future [OCAM p. 274].
3. ^ Reliving the Past, an article published by Newsweek, describes how the "open wounds" existing in Spain since the Civil War continue to play a role in the Spanish society and how they have been affected by recent events.