From: Blunderov (squooker@mweb.co.za)
Date: Mon Mar 15 2004 - 02:56:56 MST
[Blunderov]
Apparently the electorate is capable of expressing it's disapproval of
being lied to. Blair and Bush next, Darwin willing.
Best regards
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/15/international/europe/15SPAI.html?th
Following Attacks, Spain's Governing Party Is Beaten
By ELAINE SCIOLINO
Published: March 15, 2004
ADRID, March 14 — Spain's opposition Socialists swept to an upset
victory in general elections on Sunday, ousting the center-right party
of Prime Minister José María Aznar in a groundswell of voter anger and
grief over his handling of terrorist bombings in Madrid last week.
Investigators reported Sunday that there was growing evidence of
involvement of Muslim fundamentalists in the attacks. They said one of
five men arrested in the bombings had been linked to a suspected cell of
Al Qaeda in Spain, and a Spanish antiterrorism official said several of
the men had been under surveillance before the attacks.
The bombings, the deadliest terror attack in Europe since World War II,
turned on its head what just a few days ago seemed to be a likely
victory by Mr. Aznar's Popular Party. Some voters apparently believed
that Al Qaeda had plotted the attacks to punish Mr. Aznar for supporting
the war, which Spaniards overwhelmingly opposed.
With each new bit of information about the investigation into the attack
came accusations that Mr. Aznar's party may have tried to suppress
evidence of possible Qaeda involvement by assuming that Basque
separatists were responsible.
In addition to the men who have been arrested, the Spanish authorities
were investigating the possible involvement in the plot of other
militant Muslims previously known to Spanish intelligence officials.
One official said investigators were examining how militants active in
Spain may have joined with others from abroad to carry out the attack.
The threat of terrorism became more of a reality to many in Europe. In
Germany, the government held an emergency meeting of its security
cabinet. Interior Minister Otto Schily said Germany was asking for an
emergency gathering of European police and security officials to form
what he called a "common assessment" of the terrorism danger and to
"coordinate how to respond."
The Socialist victory in Spain was seen as a repudiation of Mr. Aznar,
whose party has been in office for eight years, and his close bonds with
President Bush. It also posed a new problem for the American-led
occupation force in Iraq, where Spain has 1,300 troops, because the
Socialists have said they will withdraw them in the absence of a clear
United Nations mandate.
Rage at the government overshadowed Election Day. Protesters shouted
"Liar!" and "Get our troops out of Iraq!" at the Popular Party candidate
Mariano Rajoy, the 48-year-old lawyer who had been expected to be Mr.
Aznar's successor, as he voted at a Madrid polling station.
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the 43-year-old lawyer who will become
prime minister, accepted victory at his party's campaign headquarters by
asking for a moment of silence for the bombing victims.
He called for "restrained euphoria" in light of the bombings, which
killed 200 people and wounded 1,500 on four commuter trains in Madrid on
Thursday.
"Terror should know that it has all of us in front of it and we will
conquer it," he said. "I will lead a quiet change. I will govern for all
in unity. And power will not change me, I promise you that."
In his speech conceding defeat, Mr. Rajoy praised Mr. Zapatero as a
"worthy opponent" and pledged that the Popular Party would be "a loyal
opposition always serving the interests of Spain."
But Mr. Rajoy noted that the election had been "inexorably marked by the
atrocious attack" of terrorism. Mr. Aznar, who had hand-picked Mr. Rajoy
as his successor, stood solemnly at his side.
The arrest of three Moroccans and two Indians and an official
announcement, just hours before the polls opened, of a videotape in
which a man claimed that Al Qaeda had carried out the bombings prompted
accusations that the government was lying when it claimed that the
violent Basque separatist movement ETA was most likely responsible.
In November, Mr. Zapatero called for the withdrawal of Spanish troops
from Iraq after the death of seven Spanish secret service agents in an
ambush. More recently, he softened his position, saying that if he won
the election, he would withdraw the troops at the end of June unless a
United Nations-led force took charge.
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