MADRID: Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero dissolved Parliament on Monday, but pledged to adopt new measures to tackle an economic crisis if needed before a November election that is expected to hand power to the conservative opposition.
Zapatero has called elections for Nov. 20, four months earlier than originally planned, in the hope that faint signs of an economic recovery could offset unpopularity after years of deep austerity measures in a country where one in five is unemployed.
| He may also be hoping for a terrorist attack to be timed just before the election. Not like it hasn't happened before. |
Zapatero has been criticized for reacting too late to SpainÂ’s economic turmoil after a burst property bubble, and polls show the conservative PeopleÂ’s Party (PP), led by Mariano Rajoy, likely to defeat the Socialists with an absolute majority in November.
The Gesop opinion poll for Catalonian daily El Periodico showed on Monday a total of 46 percent of voters intend to choose the PP. It also showed the Socialists, led into the elections by former Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, obtaining 31.4 percent of votes.
The election campaign will officially start on Nov. 4. |