Posted on 09/01/2003 5:48:06 PM PDT by blam
Aznar ready to quit as his successor wins party backing
By Isambard Wilkinson, Madrid Correspondent
(Filed: 02/09/2003)
The Spanish prime minister, José María Aznar, who supported the war in Iraq against enormous domestic opposition, had his hand-picked successor endorsed by his party yesterday, clearing the way for him to stand down.
Mr Aznar, a former tax inspector who has served as prime minister for seven years but has been promising to step down for the past 18 months, named his deputy, Mariano Rajoy, to take over from him in elections next March.
José María Aznar [right] and Mariano Rajoy
When Mr Aznar came to power, he promised to make Spanish politics boring, and Mr Rajoy is seen as a dull but secure choice. A former education, culture and interior minister, he is a solid conservative who will most probably don Mr Aznar's sombrero as an enthusiastic member of the so-called Three Amigos who went to war with Iraq.
In keeping with Spain's broad political consensus, he is also expected to adopt Mr Aznar's pragmatic approach to Europe. During the prime minister's tenure, Spain has forged an alliance with Britain to counterbalance federalist Franco-German initiatives.
The 111 committee members of the People's Party gave Mr Rajoy their backing yesterday, smoothing the way for his final ratification by the 563-strong national steering committee, which will hold a secret ballot today. Mr Aznar will continue as prime minister until the elections. He has long said he will not seek a third term.
Recent polls suggest that the PP has a six-point lead among voters after the Socialist leader, Jose Luis Zapatero, failed to capitalise on the PP's hugely unpopular support of the war on Iraq, its mismanagement of the Prestige oil disaster and failure to implement labour reform.
The PP faithful hope that Mr Rajoy, 48, will be a less authoritarian leader than Mr Aznar, who is nonetheless credited with distancing Spain's Right wing from its Francoist past.
Mr Aznar is known to to be desperate for a third election win to ensure his political legacy, and even the Left-leaning El Pais said he had chosen the candidate with the best chance of winning the election.
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