The general elections in Spain have been a triumph for Jose Maria Aznar and his Popular Party. For the first time in modern history a party of the Spanish right has conquered an outright majority in democratic elections. Under Aznar´s leadership the Popular Party has abandoned the remainders of its authoritarian legacy and moved on a more pragmatic, laic and definitely democratic ground. The result confirms therefore also the coming of age of modern Spanish democracy. Aznar´s personal triumph is mainly founded on his pragmatism in economic policies, where he has succeeded in reducing significantly the unemployment rate and privatizing large parts of the state held industries. The Socialist opposition has not convinced the voters with their critics against the policies of privatization, but even worse did the Communist led United Left. Liberated from the need to ask for parliamentary support from some of the minor regional parties, Aznar can now govern the country with a stable majority in the Cortes, but the most difficult problem of Spanish politics will remain the regional question.
Absolute majority for Aznar
The result of the general elections held on 12th March 2000 is a personal triumph for Spain´s prime minister Jose Maria Aznar, whose Partido Popular (PP) has won 44,62% of votes (+6,14%), conquering a comfortable majority of 183 seats (+27 seats) in the Congress (350 members). Joaquin Almunia´s Socialists (PSOE) as the main opposition party have lost consensus, reaching only 34,17% (-3,31%), which traduced in 125 seats (-16 seats). Even worse was the result of their would-be coalition partner, the United Left (IU), which lost two thirds of its mandates. With 5,50% of votes (-5,08%) the alliance led by Communist secretary Francisco Frutos dropped down to 8 seats (-13 seats). The conservative Catalan alliance called Convergence and Union (CiU) resisted under their long-serving leader Jordi Pujol. With 4,11% (-0,5%) and 15 seats (-1 seat) they are still the largest regional force, but their votes are no more decisive for the majority in parliament.
The scale of the electoral victory of Aznar´s Popular Party is a historic result that evidences the solidity of Spain´s democratic culture at the beginning of the new century. For almost two decades many Spaniards had shown skeptic about voting for a party that descended not even too indirectly from the old right of General Franco´s Fascist regime. Aznar´s electoral triumph has now definitely liberated the Spanish right from the Generalissimo´s legacy and this gives the new government the opportunity to thoroughly reform the country.
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