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Socialists Claim Victory in Spain Election
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Race
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| Contributor | User 13 |
| Last Edited | User 13 Mar 14, 2004 03:33pm |
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| Category | News |
| Media | News Service - Reuters |
| News Date | Sunday, March 14, 2004 06:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Opposition Socialists claimed victory in Spain's general election on Sunday as voters apparently punished the government over Madrid bombings that may have been retaliation by al Qaeda for the Iraq war.
"It's a victory," senior Socialist official Jose Blanco told cheering supporters in Madrid. "The Spanish Socialist Working Party is ready to take charge of government in Spain."
Official results showed the Socialists leading the ruling center-right Popular Party by 43 percent to 37.5 percent with 85 percent of votes counted.
Voters, many wearing the black ribbon symbols of national grief since Thursday's attack, turned out in numbers well above the last election in 2000 amid an angry debate over who was behind the bombings -- al Qaeda or Basque separatists.
Analysts had warned the PP could be hit if voters believed a purported al Qaeda video's claims that the group had mounted its first attack in Europe and in reprisal for Spain's support for the U.S.-led war in Iraq that most Spaniards opposed.
"Clearly the attacks have taken their toll. It's a raw nerve for the electorate and that nerve has been touched," said Henrik Lumholdt, economist and head of strategy at Inversis.
Some Spaniards were vitriolic in accusing Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar of "manipulating" public opinion by spending three days blaming the bombings of four packed commuter trains on the Basque separatist group ETA, despite its denials.
Aznar, retiring as prime minister and hailing a solid economy and greater clout for a country restored to the international mainstream three decades after Franco's dictatorship ended, had taken a tough line against ETA.
Protesters shouted "Liar" and "Get our troops out of Iraq" at PP candidate Mariano Rajoy when he voted. |
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