The Spanish
government called general elections for March 9, formally
launching Monday what is shaping up as a close race between
the ruling Socialists and opposition conservatives.
The cabinet
approved a decree at a special meeting, and Prime Minister
Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero met later with King Juan Carlos
to have the monarch formally sign it.
Zapatero is
seeking a second term after being elected in a March 2004
vote that ousted a conservative government devastated by the
Madrid terror bombings by Muslim extremists. The
attack killed 191 people and injured more than 1,800.
Speaking to
reporters Monday, Zapatero gave his government a glowing
review on the state of the economy, social legislation such
as legalization of same-sex marriage, and other
achievements. He said he will ask voters for another
term.
''We have a great
country. We are a great country. We deserve the best of
futures and we are prepared for it,'' Zapatero said.
Zapatero had
already announced the new election date last month. The
formal campaign runs for two weeks before the poll, but the
two parties have been campaigning for months.
Polls show the
Socialists with a lead of two to three points over
the conservative Popular Party, but statistically the
parties are virtually in a dead heat.
Another poll
released Monday by the Instituto Opina also showed them
statistically tied.
Despite the close
race between the parties, Zapatero leads opposition
leader Mariano Rajoy in terms of personal approval rating.
A survey
published January 4 in the newspaper El Mundo
said Spaniards give him higher marks for leadership, foreign
policy, social issues, and others, although they prefer
Rajoy for dealing with the armed Basque separatist
group ETA and handling the economy.
In its favor,
Zapatero's camp points to what it calls a strong economy,
trailblazing social reforms such as gay marriage, and
changes that gave more self-rule to semiautonomous
regions like Catalonia.
The conservatives
are hammering away at Zapatero's failed effort to
negotiate peace with ETA, which declared a cease-fire in
2006 only to revert to violence last year after
failing to win concessions in talks with the
government.
Zapatero said
Monday that after an ETA bombing that killed two people at
Madrid airport in December 2006, shattering the cease-fire,
he authorized further contacts with ETA to explore
whether there was any chance of salvaging the truce.
He said
international organizations approached ETA. He did not
identify who was involved or when the contacts took
place.
''The prospects
were practically nil because the government had already
closed the door on what might reasonably have been a process
of dialogue that would lead to the end of [ETA]
violence,'' he said.
Indeed, right
after the airport bombing, ETA insisted that the two deaths
were unintended and that the truce held but declared the
cease-fire formally over in June 2007.
Spain's economy,
for more than a decade one of the most vibrant in
Europe, is cooling off and inflation is running at more than
4%, so the economy is also a big campaign issue.
The conservatives
are promising tax cuts for businesses and low-income
workers, while the government is pledging to create 1.6
million new jobs if reelected and has already launched
a program to provide financial aid to young workers
and low-earning families to help them pay their rent.
(AP)
