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Posted on 11/20/2011 6:36:31 PM PST by Cincinna
Mariano Rajoy gains absolute majority with 16 percentage point win over José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's Socialists
The conservative People's party (PP) of Mariano Rajoy has swept to a landslide victory in Spain's general election, inheriting sky-high unemployment and one of the shakiest economies in Europe. Rajoy's PP gained an absolute parliamentary majority with a crushing 16 percentage point win over the Socialists of outgoing prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.
The Socialists lost a third of their seats as voters dumped a government that presided over a dramatic economic slump which has left 23% of Spaniards out of work.
With the PP winning 186 of the 350 seats in parliament, 56-year-old Rajoy was given a free hand to carry out sweeping reforms and impose further austerity in an attempt to turn the country around.
"It is no secret to anyone that we are going to rule in the most delicate circumstances Spain has faced in 30 years," he said. He pleaded for time. "There will be no miracles," he said. "We haven't promised any." With yields on Spanish sovereign debt reaching new highs at the end of last week, markets are unlikely to give him much breathing space. He will come under immediate pressure to reveal exactly how he intends to kickstart growth, which is currently at zero, and cut spending. The burst housing bubble has left banks dangerously exposed to loans to real estate developers and construction companies.
Unlike neighbouring Italy or Greece, which handed the reins of government to unelected technocrats in recent weeks, Spaniards have been able to choose the government they want to deal with one of the worst economic crises in living memory. They can expect an immediate dose of added austerity
(Excerpt) Read more at m.guardian.co.uk ...
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Coming soon to a country near us (I hope).
What implications will this have for Nicolas Sarkozy and his right wing givernment in France? Much of Europe is turning Right. Will the Socialists be able to win in France? Stay tuned!
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Congrats to Spain for having some sense.
What is YOUR take on Sarkozy’s chances? All elections are fluid till the last weeks, I know, and I have zero comprehension of Euro politics, but thought you might have a sense of the way it’s heading over there.
When will the people in this country learn that socialism does not work? Can’t they learn from Europe’s experiences?
Hemingway would be crushed!
Hooray for Spain!!!
Sarkozy is far from right wing. He is an EU at all cost technocrat.
On one hand this is very good for the people....but as mentioned...expectations are high...pressure great to turn the country around.
Democrates in the US always make a mess of things and then the Republicans are voted in to clean up their mess...once things start perculating again then the democrates come in and screw it up....then the voters cry out to the Republicans all over again to do something!
“...23% of Spaniards out of work.”
The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery.
— Winston Churchill
Don't you know the drill? Socialism works, it's just that
the wrong people get in charge and capitalists always do
their best to sabotage it.
Now it's a matter of time.
If Spain can do it, we can do it.
Canada swept in conservatives also, Never saw any of them on democrat networks like Fox News.
Let’s hope that it isn’t too late to fix Spain’s economic problems. Certainly, if the conservative government cannot fix the problems, they will be blamed for the coming collapse, and the socialists will say, “We were so close to fixing the problem. If you’d only elected us one more time!”
It is my fear that we stand at the same precipice as Spain and the other PIIGS and, if we win in 2012, we won’t be able to prevent the collapse and conservatism/free-market principles will be blamed for the collapse.
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.
I just don’t like the headline, “crushing victory” . Usually we see crushing is used with defeat Should say “crushing defeat for Socialist”, but they do not want that used. Nor “outstanding victory”
The worst thing Zapatero did was his war against the Church to crush their influence on society and impose radical homosexuality as the norm.
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