Spanish general election, 2008
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Legislative elections for the Spanish Cortes Generales will be held on March 9[1], 2008. All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies, and the 208 directly elected seats in upper house, the Senate.
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[edit] Candidates and Coalitions
By tradition, it is considered that the first candidate on the Madrid list for the Congress of Deputies is the Prime Ministerial Candidates for each major party . Nationalist parties who will not win enough seats to be serious contenders for the office of Prime Minister usually designate one of their list leaders as their main candidate. These candidates are generally featured more prominently in the Spanish National Media than other list leaders or candidates. Regional, provincial and local media nearly always cover the activities of the Prime Ministerial Candidates, together with the leading candidates in their area.
[edit] Spanish Socialist Worker's Party
As in 2004, the governing Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) will be led by Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. Mr Zapatero was the only PSOE candidate who sought the nomination and he was therefore proclaimed candidate on November 25th 2007 at a rally in Fuenlabrada,Madrid. PSOE will run in all Spanish constituencies. In Catalonia their federated party the Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC) operate as part of the PSOE's Ticket.
The current Deputy Prime Minister María Teresa Fernández de la Vega will lead the list in the province of Valencia and will continue as Deputy Prime Minister if the PSOE wins the elections.
Jose Bono, former Minister of Defence and President of Castile-La Mancha for 21 years, will lead the list in Toledo and will be elected President of the Congress of Deputies if the PSOE wins the elections.
It is also more than probable that the current Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Pedro Solbes, will be second on the Madrid list and will continue in Government if the PSOE wins the election [2]
It is unclear which changes will take place in the PSOE if they lose the election.
[edit] People's Party
The People's Party (PP), will be led by Mariano Rajoy, former Vice Prime Minister and successor to the former Prime Minister José María Aznar. He was nominated as candidate by the National Board of Directors of the party on September 10 2007[3]. PP will run in all the constituencies with its sister party the Navarrese People's Union (UPN) acting as part of the PP ticket in Navarre
Were the People's Party to lose, there is speculation that their current leader will resign, which would open the door for Mayor of Madrid Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón or President of Madrid Esperanza Aguirre to succeed him.
[edit] United Left
United Left (IU) Held a primary election between November and October 2007. Those where contested by Gaspar Llamazares, the current General Coordinator of United Left and Margarita Sanz, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Valencian Country - the Valencian federation of the Communist Party of Spain[4]. On November 14th Llamazares was announced winner beating his contender by a wide margin. IU will run in all constituencies, in many of them (e.g. Catalonia) they will probably run in coalition with other parties.
The Assembly of IU in the Land of Valencia elected Antonio Montalban as it's leading candidate for Valencia, one of the traditional districts where IU or PCE have obtained deputies, against incumbent Isaura Navarro. Felipe Alcaraz executive chairman of PCE announced his intention not to seek nomination for Seville, another of the traditional PCE/IU seats and district where he had been deputy from 1993 to 2004, in the Andalusian Assembly of IU, after loosing the provincial assembly, he will probably be substituted by the former mayor of Carmona Sebastián Martin Recio.[5]
[edit] Convergence and Union
In November 2007 Convergence and Union (CiU) designated their leader in Congress and leader of the Democratic Union of Catalonia Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida as main candidate. CiU will only contest the four Catalan provinces.
[edit] Republican Left of Catalonia
In August 2007, Republican Left of Catalonia designated their spokesman in the Catalan Parliament Joan Ridao i Martín as their leader for these elections. ERC will run in the provinces compromising the so-called Catalan Countries, but will possibly participate in an electoral coalition with other nationalist parties in the Balearic Islands constituency.
[edit] Basque Nationalist Party
The Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ-PNV) have not yet nominated any main candidate as of October 21 2007. PNV will run alone in the three Basque provinces. In Navarre they will be part of the Nafarroa Bai coalition.
[edit] Minor Parties in Congress
- Canarian Coalition will present candidates in the Canary Islands.
- The Galician Nationalist Bloc will run candidates in Galicia.
- Basque Solidarity (Eusko Alkartasuna) will run in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country seeking the re-election of their representative in Guipuskoa and attempting to gain a seat in Biscay. EA will run alone in the three Basque provinces. In Navarre they will be part of the Nafarroa Bai coalition.
- The current deputy of the Chunta Aragonesista Singer-songwriter Jose Antonio Labordeta announced his intention not to run as candidate for the upcoming election
[edit] Campaigns
Although the electoral campaign period in Spain only lasts for the 15 days before the election, (with the exception of the day just before the election), many parties, especially the PP and PSOE, start their "pre-campaigns" months in advance, often before having finalised their electoral lists.
[edit] PSOE
The first phase campaign was done under the slogan "Con Z de Zapatero" (With Z of Zapatero), a joke based on the Prime Minister and socialist candidate's habit of tending to pronounce words ending with D as if they ended with Z. The campaign was linked to terms like equality (Igualdad-Igualdaz) or solidarity (Solidaridad-Solidaridaz), emphasizing the policies carried out by the current government. The second phase was done under the slogan "La Mirada Positiva" (The Positive outlook), emphasising the future government platform.
[edit] PP
For the pre-campaign the PP has used the slogan "Con Rajoy es Posible" (With Rajoy it's Possible). Usually emphasizing PP's campaign proposals, such as "Llegar a fin de mes, Con Rajoy es Posible"(Making it to the end of the month, With Rajoy it's Possible". IU accused PP of copying its slogan from the last municipal elections[6]
[edit] IU
IU has chose the pre-campaign slogan "LamazarES Izquierda Util" (LLamazarES (is) Useful Left), Marking on the character of third national party.
[edit] Polls
[edit] Polls of the CIS
| PSOE | PP | IU | CiU | ERC | PNV | Others | Blank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2004 | 45,8% | 35,4% | 4,9% | 2,7% | 2,3% | 1,3% | 6,5% | 1,1% |
| July 2004 | 44,0% | 36,8% | 5,0% | 2,8% | 2,6% | 1,5% | 6,0% | 1,3% |
| October 2004 | 42,1% | 36,1% | 5,5% | 3,3% | 2,0% | 1,7% | 7,6% | 1,7% |
| January 2005 | 42,4% | 35,7% | 5,4% | 2,9% | 2,3% | 1,5% | 7,6% | 2,2% |
| April 2005 | 41,2% | 36,6% | 5,2% | 3,1% | 2,1% | 1,6% | 8,0% | 2,2% |
| July 2005 | 41,9% | 36,4% | 5,1% | 3,2% | 2,3% | 1,8% | 6,8% | 2,5% |
| October 2005 | 39,7% | 37,7% | 4,8% | 3,4% | 2,4% | 1,5% | 7,7% | 2,8% |
| January 2006 | 39,6% | 38,0% | 4,9% | 3,6% | 2,4% | 1,5% | 7,5% | 2,5% |
| April 2006 | 40,3% | 38,2% | 5,4% | 2,9% | 2,0% | 1,4% | 7,5% | 2,3% |
| July 2006 | 40,6% | 36,9% | 5,0% | 3,2% | 2,1% | 1,4% | 8,0% | 2,8% |
| October 2006 | 39,3% | 37,9% | 5,1% | 3,1% | 2,8% | 1,7% | 6,8% | 3,4% |
| January 2007 | 38,8% | 37,6% | 6,5% | 3,2% | 2,0% | 1,4% | 7,6% | 2,9% |
| April 2007 | 39,6% | 36,6% | 5,6% | 3,0% | 2,4% | 1,6% | 7,6% | 3,6% |
| July 2007 | 40,5% | 37,0% | 6,1% | 2,9% | 1,9% | 1,5% | 7,7% | 2,4% |
| October 2007 | 39,7% | 37,4% | 5,5% | 3,1% | 2,1% | 1,5% | 8,3% | 2,4% |
[edit] Polls of the mass media
| PSOE | PP | IU | CiU | ERC | PNV | UPyD | Otros | En blanco | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC October 2007[7] | 41,2% | 39,3% | 4,5% | 2,5% | 2,1% | 1,1% | — | 6,1% | 1,1% |
| La Vanguardia October 2007[8] | 42,3% | 39,6% | 5,7% | 2,5% | 1,6% | 1,1% | — | 6,0% | 1,1% |
| Antena 3 TNS Demoscopia October 2007[9] | 40,6% | 39,5% | 5,2% | 3,2% | 2,3% | 1,4% | 0,9% | 6,0% | 1,1% |
| El Mundo Sigma 2 November 2007 [10] | 42,2% | 39,1% | 4,8% | 3,0% | 2,2% | 1,3% | — | 7,4% | 1,1% |
| CadenaSer Institute Opina November 2007 [11] | 44,5% | 38,0% | 4,0% | 3,0% | 1,9% | 1,4% | — | 7,2% | — |
| Antena 3 TNS Demoscopia November 2007[12] | 41,4% | 39,0% | 5,5% | 2,7% | 2,3% | 1,5% | 0,8% | 6,0% | 1,1% |
| CadenaSer Institute Opina November 2007 (2nd week) [13] | 45% | 38,0% | 4,0% | 3,2% | 1,7% | 1,9% | — | 6,2% | — |
| Periódico Publico November 2007 [14] | 42,5% | 37,4% | 5,2% | 2,8% | 2,0% | 1,5% | — | 8,6% | — |
| Revista Temas[15] | 40,7% | 38,4% | 5,3% | 3,3% | 2,0% | 1,7% | — | 8,5% | - |
| Antena 3 TNS Demoscopia December 2007[16] | 42,0% | 38,2% | 5,5% | 3,2% | 1,9% | 1,4% | 1,0% | 6,0% | 1,1% |
| Ipsos Expansion December 2007[17] | 41,3% | 38,0% | 5,3% | 3,2% | 2,1% | 1,5% | 1,3% | 6,0% | 1,1% |
[edit] Results
[edit] Congress
| Parties and alliances | Votes | % | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (Partido Socialista Obrero Español) | |||
| People's Party (Partido Popular) | |||
| United Left (Izquierda Unida) | |||
ICV-EUiA
| |||
Entesa
| |||
Convergence and Union (Convergència i Unió)
| |||
| Republican Left of Catalonia (Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya) | |||
| Basque Nationalist Party (Partido Nacionalista Vasco/Euzko Alderdi Jeltzalea) | |||
| Canarian Coalition (Coalición Canaria) | |||
Galician Nationalist Bloc (Bloque Nacionalista Galego)
| |||
| Andalucista Party (Partido Andalucista) | |||
| Aragonese Council (Chunta Aragonesista) | |||
| Basque Solidarity (Eusko Alkartasuna) | |||
Navarra Yes (Nafarroa Bai)
| |||
| Total (turnout %) | 350 | ||
| Source: El País Online | |||
[edit] Senate
| Parties and alliances | Seats |
|---|---|
| People's Party (Partido Popular) | |
| Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (Partido Socialista Obrero Español) | |
Entesa Catalana de Progrés
| |
| Basque Nationalist Party (Partido Nacionalista Vasco/Euzko Alderdi Jeltzalea) | |
Convergence and Union (Convergència i Unió)
| |
| Canarian Coalition (Coalición Canaria) | |
| Members appointed by the regional legislatures | |
| Total (turnout %) | 259 |
| Source: El País Online | |
[edit] References
- ^ announcement of election date
- ^ El Periodico de Cataluña- 26/11/2007- Solbes confirma su permanencia en el Gobierno si el PSOE gana las elecciones legislativas
- ^ Agence France Press
- ^ Izquierda Unida Official Page
- ^ (Spanish)[Diario de Cordoba 4-12-2007 Felie Alcaraz renuncia a encabezar la lista de IU en Sevilla]
- ^ El PP copia el Lema de IU en su Ultima Campaña, Público, 23/11/2007
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ [3]
- ^ [4]
- ^ [5]
- ^ [6]
- ^ [7]
- ^ [8]
- ^ [9]
- ^ [10]
- ^ [11]
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nl:Spaanse Parlementsverkiezingen 2008 gl:Eleccións Xerais 2008 en España
