Wednesday 1 March 2000

SPANISH LEFT UNITES WITH A GRUDGE

New Times, March 2000

After nearly three weeks of gruelling negotiations, Spain's two main left-wing parties last month agreed a joint manifesto and a partial electoral pact for the 12 March general election.

The agreement falls short of what JoaquĆ­n Almunia, leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE), had in mind in January when he surprised everyone by offering a pre-election deal to the communist-led United Left (IU), modelled on Lionel Jospin's socialist-communist 'plural left' alliance in France.

Almunia, a centrist pragmatist and close ally of former prime minister Felipe Gonzalez, wanted an electoral pact to cover both houses of parliament, though not joint lists of candidates everywhere. The IU wanted joint lists – and, when Almunia refused to accept them, rejected his suggestion that it stand down candidates for the lower house in selected provinces.

As a result, the electoral pact covers only elections for the senate, the upper house, in those provinces where prime minister Jose Maria Aznar's conservative Popular Party (PP) had a majority in 1996. Nevertheless, the joint manifesto, along with the IU's promise of parliamentary support for Almunia becoming prime minister, marks a reconciliation between the two parties that few would have deemed possible three months ago. Both sides gave ground over the contents of the manifesto – the IU by accepting the PSOE's refusal to raise income tax and its commitment to maintaining Spanish participation in the euro and membership of Nato, the PSOE by agreeing to legislate for introduction of a 35-hour working week.

The day the deal was unveiled, both Almunia and IU leader Francisco Frutos pronounced themselves well pleased with their work. 'It is very satisfactory,' said Almunia, 'as well as being a response to what progressive, left-wing people have been demanding from us socialists and United Left people for some time.' 'It is not a matter of patching things over between political parties but of trying to come up with a responsible programme for governing this country from the left,' said Frutos.

Whether the agreement is enough to secure the left victory on 12 March is doubtful, however. On the evidence of the latest opinion polls, the PP has the support of between 42 and 44 per cent of voters, with the PSOE roughly five percentage points behind and the IU on 7 to 8 per cent. These figures suggest Almunia has at least a chance of ousting Aznar – but only if the left rapprochement encourages tactical voting by PSOE and IU voters and does not scare anyone off.