83-568: José María Aznar PP José María Aznar PP The 2000 Spanish general election was held on Sunday, 12 March 2000, to elect the 7th Cortes Generales of the Kingdom of Spain . All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 208 of 259 seats in the Senate . The incumbent People's Party (PP) of Prime Minister José María Aznar secured an unpredicted absolute majority in
166-613: A partial transcript of the meeting . The government's handling of the wreckage of the Greek Prestige tanker near the Spanish coast, which resulted in a major ecological disaster, also became a divisive issue. He actively encouraged and supported the Bush administration's foreign policy and the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. He defended it on the basis of secret intelligence allegedly containing evidence of
249-413: A snap election , provided that no motion of no confidence was in process, no state of emergency was in force and that dissolution did not occur before one year had elapsed since the previous one. Additionally, both chambers were to be dissolved and a new election called if an investiture process failed to elect a prime minister within a two-month period from the first ballot. Barred this exception, there
332-641: A decade—and Herri Batasuna / Euskal Herritarrok (EH), which urged to boycott the election and called for their supporters to abstain in the Basque Country and Navarre. The Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) benefitted from EH's absence and gained two seats, whereas both Canarian Coalition (CC) and the Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG) had strong showings in their respective regions. Initiative for Catalonia (IC), which had split from IU in 1997, clinged on to parliamentary representation but suffered from
415-401: A first payment of US$ 700,000 for the first seven months, followed by $ 100,000 monthly payments until it reached the sum of $ 2 million. In an interview with BBC World on 27 July 2006 he voiced doubts about Islamists being the sole culprits of the disputed 2004 Madrid train bombings , "You know in this moment some perpetrators of the attacks, but you do not know who imagined the attack, who is
498-453: A major sector of the population rejected the hypothesis that the attacks were perpetrated by ETA and believed the government was lying because of the bombings' possible connection to Spanish support for the invasion of Iraq. This led to a massive drop in support for the PP in the days before the election, and the opposing PSOE 's José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero won the election. Aznar remains active in
581-561: A perceived lack of democracy within IU. Anguita sought to prevent an electoral alliance between United Left–Galician Left (EU–EG) and the Socialists' Party of Galicia (PSdeG–PSOE) ahead of the 1997 Galician regional election , a move which received criticism from Initiative for Catalonia (IC), IU's sister party in Catalonia, with which disagreements over the coalition's political direction had been on
664-470: A period of privatizations after the previous PSOE government had nationalized parts of the economy. Spanish voters reelected Aznar in the 2000 general election with an outright majority. The PP obtained 44.5% of the vote and 183 seats. The Spanish electorate's participation was the lowest for a general election in Spain in the post-Franco era. After six years of relative political calm, when political debate
747-530: A result of the aforementioned allocation, each Congress multi-member constituency was entitled the following seats: For the Senate, 208 seats were elected using an open list partial block voting system , with electors voting for individual candidates instead of parties. In constituencies electing four seats, electors could vote for up to three candidates; in those with two or three seats, for up to two candidates; and for one candidate in single-member districts. Each of
830-459: A result only exceeded in 2011 . In contrast, the PSOE got its worst election result in 21 years. This was also the second time a party received more than 10 million votes, the last time being in 1982 , when 10.1 million voters voted for Felipe González 's PSOE. The voters' turnout registered was one of the lowest in democratic Spain for Spanish election standards, with only 68.7% of the electorate casting
913-531: A signatory to the Kyoto Protocol in 1998, and it appeared that he had subsequently changed his mind about climate change. In 2009 Aznar was due to speak to a Heartland Institute conference , which was billed as the "world's largest-ever gathering of global warming skeptics ". He withdrew at short notice, and in the absence of a public explanation there was speculation that he did so in order to spare his party embarrassment. The People's Party distanced itself from
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#1732884805427996-661: A similar agreement for the Congress of Deputies, wherein IU would not run in 34 constituencies where it would unlikely win a seat on its own, with a later offer reducing the number to 14. These offers were both rejected. Basque Citizens (EH), the Basque electoral coalition including Herri Batasuna , called for election boycott and urged its supporters to abstain. Jos%C3%A9 Mar%C3%ADa Aznar José María Alfredo Aznar López ( Spanish pronunciation: [xoˈse maˈɾi.a alˈfɾeðo aθˈnaɾ ˈlopeθ] ; born 25 February 1953)
1079-475: A vote. The Spanish Cortes Generales were envisaged as an imperfect bicameral system. The Congress of Deputies had greater legislative power than the Senate , having the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a prime minister and to override Senate vetoes by an absolute majority of votes. Nonetheless, the Senate possessed a few exclusive (yet limited in number) functions—such as its role in constitutional amendment —which were not subject to
1162-519: A whole, the dissolution of the NI-controlled regional leaderships in Cantabria and Castilla–La Mancha and the break up of relations with EU–EG and IC. The PDNI then sought electoral alliances with the PSOE, which materialized ahead of the 1999 local, regional and European Parliament elections. The PP government relied on confidence and supply support from CiU, PNV and CC. The PNV withdrew its support from
1245-561: Is a Spanish politician who was the prime minister of Spain from 1996 to 2004. He led the People's Party (PP), the dominant centre-right political party in Spain. A member of the Frente de Estudiantes Sindicalistas , a dissident Falangist student organisation, in his youth, he studied law at the Complutense University of Madrid and first worked in the public sector as an Inspector of
1328-407: The 11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings . Initially, the government and the opposition stated publicly that it was possible the bombings may have been the work of ETA . However, the PP government continued to blame ETA even after evidence that the attacks may have been the work of an Islamist group emerged, having the minister of foreign affairs, Ana Palacio , instruct all Spanish diplomats to place
1411-517: The 2000 Andalusian regional election , with the dissolution of the Cortes Generales being arranged on 17 January. The Cortes Generales were officially dissolved on 18 January 2000 after the publication of the dissolution decree in the BOE, setting the election date for 12 March and scheduling for both chambers to reconvene on 5 April. On 5 May 1996, José María Aznar from the People's Party (PP)
1494-559: The 2000 general election this time obtaining an absolute majority of 183 deputies (out of 350) in the Congress. The economy kept growing and unemployment finally began to fall during his second term. In foreign policy , Spain adopted a neoconservative approach and grew closer ties with the United States and the Bush administration , in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks . Aznar supported
1577-527: The Alliance of Civilizations initiative "stupid." His reference to apologies was a response to the demonstrations asking the Pope to apologize. One PP official clarified Aznar's speech by saying the prime minister thought it is pointless to apologize for historical events. The American magazine Foreign Policy ranks him among the "five worst ex-presidents of the world" for his post-presidency behavior. According to
1660-615: The British House of Commons Aznar said Israel is needed by the European Union. He said his report recommends that due to its Western culture and the benefits it brings the European Union, Israel should become a full member of the EU without pre-conditions. Aznar's government posthumously granted a medal of Civil Merit to Melitón Manzanas , the head of the secret police in San Sebastián and
1743-544: The Canary Islands Coalition , in order to govern with additional support from the Basque Nationalist Party. He was voted in as prime minister with 181 votes in the Cortes Generales on 4 May and sworn in the next day by King Juan Carlos I . Aznar's government has been described as the first conservative government since 1983, or since the death of Francisco Franco. The Aznar Government maintained
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#17328848054271826-537: The Club de Madrid , an independent non-profit organization created to promote democracy and change in the international community, composed by more than 100 members: former democratic Heads of State and Government from around the world. Aznar was also one of the signatories and promoters of the Prague Charter . Aznar was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from CEU Cardinal Herrera University . Since 2013, Aznar has served on
1909-608: The Colegio del Pilar in Madrid. As a sixteen-year-old, Aznar espoused an independent brand of Falangism as a member of the Frente de Estudiantes Sindicalistas (FES), a Falangist dissident student organization opposed to the Francoist regime. Primordially a university organization, a teenage Aznar became responsible for the high-school branch set up in the late 1960s, and was tasked with promoting Falangism amongst Spain’s school-going youth along
1992-564: The Cortes Generales —the Congress and the Senate—expired four years from the date of their previous election, unless they were dissolved earlier. The election decree was required to be issued no later than the twenty-fifth day prior to the date of expiry of parliament and published on the following day in the Official State Gazette (BOE), with election day taking place on the fifty-fourth day from publication. The previous election
2075-461: The Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service . Additionally, he teaches a course on political leadership, convened by Professor Carol Lancaster, with former Polish President Kwasniewski . Aznar leads public dialogues on pressing contemporary concerns in collaboration with other members of the faculty; he was awarded an honorary degree at Universidad Francisco Marroquin . In 2007, Aznar was appointed to
2158-583: The Friends of Israel Initiative , with the stated goal to "counter the attempts to delegitimize the State of Israel and its right to live in peace within safe and defensible borders". Referring to the ill-fated takeover of the Mavi Marmara by Israeli commandos, Aznar said in 2010 that the world must support Israel because "if it goes down, we all go down". He said that "In an ideal world, the assault by Israeli commandos on
2241-793: The Leadership Council for Concordia , a nonpartisan, nonprofit based in New York City focused on promoting effective public-private collaboration to create a more prosperous and sustainable future, and is a member of the Board of Directors of Afiniti , a US based artificial intelligence business. He received the America Award of the Italy-USA Foundation in 2019. In 2022, his cumulative salary since he began advising Rupert Murdoch in 2006 exceeded $ 4 million. Defunct In October 2008, on
2324-480: The Mavi Marmara would not have ended up with nine dead and a score wounded. In an ideal world, the soldiers would have been peacefully welcomed on to the ship." He criticized Turkey for placing Israel "in an impossible situation" in which it would have to either give up its security or face world condemnation. Aznar concluded that Israel is the West's first line of defense, and must be protected. In 2014, in an address at
2407-423: The invasion of Iraq . In 2004, a general election in Spain was scheduled for 14 March, which was not contested by Aznar, but by his successor as lead of the PP, Mariano Rajoy . On 11 March, the 2004 Madrid train bombings occurred, which killed 192 people. The government claimed the bombings were perpetrated by ETA . In the few days between the bombings and the election, the PP defended this position: however,
2490-423: The provinces of Spain , with each being allocated an initial minimum of two seats and the remaining 248 being distributed in proportion to their populations. Ceuta and Melilla were allocated the two remaining seats, which were elected using plurality voting . The use of the electoral method resulted in an effective threshold based on the district magnitude and the distribution of votes among candidacies. As
2573-495: The 14 members of José María Aznar's government from 2002 to 2003 were imprisoned or prosecuted for influence peddling, money laundering and tax fraud. Aznar himself is suspected by the Spanish justice system of having benefited from a party slush fund between 1990 and 1996 for an amount of 782,695 euros. He was summoned by the courts in March 2021 to explain the 'B fund' that the PP had allegedly maintained for more than twenty years. This
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2656-663: The 47 peninsular provinces was allocated four seats, whereas for insular provinces, such as the Balearic and Canary Islands , districts were the islands themselves, with the larger— Majorca , Gran Canaria and Tenerife —being allocated three seats each, and the smaller— Menorca , Ibiza – Formentera , Fuerteventura , La Gomera , El Hierro , Lanzarote and La Palma —one each. Ceuta and Melilla elected two seats each. Additionally, autonomous communities could appoint at least one senator each and were entitled to one additional senator per each million inhabitants. The term of each chamber of
2739-598: The AP's National executive committee. He became Assistant Secretary General in February 1982. On 26 October 1982 he was elected to parliament, representing Ávila . On 22 June 1985 he was appointed to the presidency of the AP in Castile and León . On 2 December 1986 AP leader Manuel Fraga resigned following fierce internal party fighting in the aftermath of another failure to dislodge the ruling Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). Aznar
2822-672: The American-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq . In 2002, he faced harsh criticisms for the government's response to the Prestige oil spill in Galicia . Support of the PP further declined after the invasion of Iraq, which was not supported by the majority of the Spanish population, but was nevertheless carried out with Spanish support for the U.S. and the UK. A 2003 poll conducted by the public research institute CIS found that 91% of Spaniards were against
2905-412: The Congress of Deputies, obtaining 183 out of 350 seats and increasing its margin of victory with the opposition Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) to 2.4 million votes. The PSOE did not profit from a pre-election agreement with United Left (IU) and lost 1.6 million votes and 16 seats, coupled to the 1.4 million votes and 13 seats lost by IU. Such an alliance was said to prompt tactical voting for
2988-517: The Congress' override. Voting for the Cortes Generales was on the basis of universal suffrage , which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age and in full enjoyment of their political rights. For the Congress of Deputies, 348 seats were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation , with an electoral threshold of three percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each constituency. Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to
3071-674: The Finances of the State ( Spanish : Inspector de las Finanzas del Estado ). He joined the People's Alliance , which was re-founded as the People's Party in 1989. He led the Junta of Castile and León from 1987 to 1989 and was Leader of the Opposition at the national level from 1989 to 1996. In 1995, he survived an assassination attempt from the Basque separatist group ETA . The People's Party, led by Aznar, won
3154-491: The Iraqi government's nuclear proliferation. On 30 January 2003, Aznar signed The letter of the eight supporting US. policy on Iraq . The majority of the Spanish population, including some PP members, were against the war. Spain's major cities were the scene of the largest street demonstrations ever seen in the country as a result of the government's participation in the invasion. Aznar lost some support from those who had voted for
3237-493: The PP in 2000. On a live TV interview aired on the public station while demonstrations were taking place in the streets, he asked the Spanish people to take his word assuring there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, of which he had evidence. This is now regarded as incorrect. On the economic front, the government pursued the privatization of public enterprises and focused its attention on debt reduction . Investment in research
3320-568: The PP, which also benefited from economic growth, a moderate stance throughout the legislature and internal struggles within the opposition parties. For the first time since the Spanish transition to democracy , the PP results exceeded the combined totals for PSOE and IU. PSOE leader Joaquín Almunia announced his resignation immediately after results were known. Regional and peripheral nationalist parties improved their results, except for Convergence and Union (CiU)—which had been in electoral decline for
3403-454: The PP–CiU relationship. In the summer of 1999, a new round of speculation emerged that Aznar was considering holding an early election throughout the autumn, but this was ended by Aznar re-assuring that it was his wish to exhaust the legislature and for the election to be held when due, in March 2000. On 23 December 1999, it was confirmed that the general election would be held in March, together with
2000 Spanish general election - Misplaced Pages Continue
3486-575: The People's Party was set to win a third consecutive election on the strength of the economy. An opinion poll carried out by the government-run CIS (which had estimated that 92% of the Spanish people did not support the War in Iraq) in February 2004 estimated that the PP would win an election with 42.2% of the vote while the PSOE would only get 35.5%. Three days before the 2004 general election , 10 bombs killed 191 people in
3569-647: The Senate election in Ibiza and Formentera, PSOE, United Left of the Balearic Islands (EUIB), The Greens (LV), Nationalist and Ecologist Agreement (ENE) and ERC formed the Pact for Ibiza and Formentera . Various attempts at forming a joint left-wing candidacy for the Senate in the Valencian Community were unsuccessful, primarily due to disagreement over the label and format of such an alliance. Nationwide, an agreement
3652-525: The advisory board of Centaurus Capital, a London-based hedge fund , an appointment which proved to be short-lived. In 2006, he was appointed to the Board of Directors of News Corporation , the media conglomerate of Rupert Murdoch . He is also member of the European Advisory Panel of The European Business Awards and the European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation . Aznar is a member of
3735-863: The attacks were not exclusively perpetrated by Islamists. After leaving office on 17 April 2004 he presided over the FAES think tank , which is associated with the PP. After a 2005 reform, promoted by Prime Minister Rodríguez Zapatero, former prime ministers were admitted into the Council of State , a position from which he later resigned. Aznar was appointed Distinguished Scholar in the Practice of Global Leadership at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. in April 2004. In this position, he teaches two seminars per semester on contemporary European politics and trans-Atlantic relationships in
3818-498: The backing of the guerrista faction. Borrell defeated Almunia, but the latter remained as the party's Secretary General in order to prevent an extraordinary congress, a situation prompting a 'bicephaly' which would see both Borrell and Almunia clashing for months on party direction and strategy issues, as the extent of each one's competences on the party's political leadership remained unclear. Borrell renounced as candidate in May 1999 after it
3901-452: The blame on ETA at every opportunity. The public perception that the government hid information from the general population gave rise to a public outcry. Two days after the Atocha bombings, demonstrations took place across Spain demanding news from the investigation, where chants such as "We want the truth before we vote" and "Who is responsible?" were heard. Three days after the train bombings,
3984-509: The commitment of the previous government to join the European Union's single currency and showed itself willing to take political risks in order to meet the requirements for membership. Aznar also announced the sale early in 1997 of the nation's remaining minority stake ( golden shares ) in the Telefónica telecommunications company and the petroleum group Repsol . This marked the beginning of
4067-460: The economy grew and Spain met the criteria to participate in the creation of the eurozone , but unemployment remained moderately high. Some relevant events in Aznar's first term were the assassination of PP politician Miguel Ángel Blanco by ETA. Aznar attempted to negotiate with ETA between 1998 and 1999, but the parties did not reach an agreement and violence continued. Aznar also got the most votes in
4150-441: The electoral competition with United and Alternative Left (EUiA), IU's newly-founded regional branch in Catalonia which failed to secure any seat. This would be the first and only general election in which both parties would contest each other. This election featured some notable feats: this was the first absolute majority the PP obtained in a general election, with its best result in both popular vote share and seats up until then,
4233-565: The end of March 1990. In November the PP moved from the Conservative group in the European Parliament to the more centrist Christian Democratic European People's Party . On 6 June 1993 the PP again lost the general election , but improved on their previous performance by obtaining 34.8% of the vote. The PSOE lost its absolute majority and needed to form a coalition government with other parties in order to continue governing. The result
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#17328848054274316-553: The environmental views of Aznar, classing him among a "sceptical minority" within its membership. However, some People's Party politicians favored Aznar and wanted a public debate on climate change, most notably Esperanza Aguirre . In 2010 it was reported that Aznar would chair the Advisory Council of the Global Adaptation Institute, a new body concerned with adaptation to climate change . In 2010, Aznar founded
4399-476: The first high-profile member of the Francoist government killed by ETA in 1968. Manzanas was widely considered a torturer , and Amnesty International condemned the award. After the 2004 elections it was revealed that Aznar and his government secretly channeled public funds to a United States legal firm to lobby for the bestowment of the Congressional Gold Medal on Aznar. The contract consisted in
4482-711: The government in June 1999, with relations strained after the signing of the Estella Agreement between the PNV and HB in September 1998. The Aragonese Party (PAR), which had been allied with the PP since the 1996 election, broke away from the PP parliamentary group in October 1999 and joined the Mixed Group. The tables below show the composition of the parliamentary groups in both chambers at
4565-626: The leader of the attack, who is the idea (sic) of the attack, who established and supported means for the attacks, who defined the logistics of the attacks, who established the strategies of the attack. Nothing...I think that one part of the perpetrators are Islamists, but I think that this is not only an Islamist attack." During a Washington, D.C. conference at the Hudson Institute , a conservative U.S. think tank , on 23 September 2006, referring to Pope Benedict XVI 's comments on Islam and violence, Aznar asked why Muslims had not apologized for occupying Spain for 800 years as Al-Andalus . He then called
4648-423: The left of the political spectrum. One such example was in Catalonia, where a left-wing alliance came to fruition between the Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC), Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) and Initiative for Catalonia–Greens (IC–V) under the Catalan Agreement of Progress label, aiming to mirror the success of a similar alliance between the PSC and IC–V in the 1999 Catalan regional election . Ahead of
4731-410: The magazine, Aznar distinguished himself by his "extreme rhetoric" for his negationist positions on the issue of global warming, his rejection of the efforts of inter-religious dialogue or for having declared that the election of an African-American to the presidency of the United States would lead to a "foreseeable economic disaster". In 2015, after a series of cases spread over several years, 11 of
4814-483: The most parliamentary seats at the 1996 general election , but he failed to obtain a majority in the Congress of Deputies , which forced the PP to seek the support of Basque ( EAJ-PNV ), Catalan ( CiU ) and Canarian ( CC ) regionalists. He was finally invested prime minister on 4 May 1996, and his first term was marked by market liberalization , deregulation of the economy, cutting of state expenses and privatization of several state-owned companies. During his first term,
4897-456: The occasion of a visit by the Czech President Václav Klaus to the Spanish capital, Aznar said that anthropogenic climate change is a "scientifically questionable" theory which had become a religion, and whose followers were "enemies of freedom". These views were similar to those expressed by Klaus in his book Blue Planet in Green Shackles , which was published in Spanish by FAES . Aznar's speech caused some puzzlement, as his government had been
4980-473: The opposition PSOE won the elections. The subsequent investigations held by a Parliamentary Committee were characterized by bitter partisan exchanges between the different political parties, with dispute over who may have been responsible for the bombings. Aznar appeared before the Committee in November 2004 and declared his belief that the authors of the bombings were not to be found "in faraway deserts or remote mountains." Aznar said in 2006 that he thought that
5063-439: The organisation’s lines. Aznar graduated in law at the Complutense University of Madrid in 1975 and became a Tax Authority inspector in 1976. After the death of Francisco Franco and the restoration of democracy , Aznar joined the Alianza Popular (AP) in January 1979, a few months after his wife. In March he became the Secretary General of the party in La Rioja , occupying the post until 1980. In February 1981 he joined
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#17328848054275146-452: The party's leadership. The party, divided at the time between González's supporters— renovadores , Spanish for "renovators"—and those following the discipline of former deputy prime minister and PSOE vice secretary general Alfonso Guerra — guerristas —, elected Joaquín Almunia , a "renovator" and former Minister of Labour and Social Security (1982–1986) and Minister for Public Administrations (1986–1991), as new Secretary General. While it
5229-412: The private sector, and he sometimes gives his views on current issues. He was a member of the Council of State from 2005 to 2006. He is the president of Spanish think tank FAES and is a director of News Corporation . He held the honorary (symbolic) presidency of the PP until 2016, when he renounced the title. On February 14, 2024, Aznar resigned from his position as a lobbyist for Philip Morris. Aznar
5312-414: The rise since the 1996 general election. The Democratic Party of the New Left (PDNI), constituted as an internal current within IU which had been critical of Anguita's leadership, was expelled from the alliance's governing bodies in June 1997, after party discipline in the Congress was broken on the issue of labour reform. The IU crisis came to a peak in September 1997, which saw NI's expulsion from IU as
5395-407: The seats allocated to that party in the elections, so that the candidates positioned highest on this list tend to always get a seat in the parliament while the candidates positioned very low on the closed list will not. However, the candidates "at the water mark" of a given party are in the position of either losing or winning their seat depending on the number of votes the party gets. "The water mark"
5478-414: The signature of at least one percent of the electorate in the constituencies for which they sought election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates. Below is a list of the main parties and electoral alliances which contested the election: The election was marked by the exploration of joint candidacies between the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and other parties in
5561-411: The spring of 1999 or in June, to coincide with the scheduled local , regional and European Parliament elections. This possibility was fueled by some remarks from the Catalan president and Convergence and Union (CiU) leader Jordi Pujol , Aznar's main parliamentary ally, that a general election would be held in 1999—a remark that he was forced to rectify later on— coinciding with a critical point in
5644-719: The then French minister for justice. Dati subsequently claimed that another individual, Dominique Desseigne , was the father of her child. In December 2012, a French court ordered Desseigne to undergo a paternity test to see if he fathered Dati's child. A French court decision of 7 January 2016 ruled that Desseigne was indeed the father. Closed list Condorcet methods Positional voting Cardinal voting Quota-remainder methods Approval-based committees Fractional social choice Semi-proportional representation By ballot type Pathological response Strategic voting Paradoxes of majority rule Positive results Closed list describes
5727-422: The time of dissolution. The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry , coalitions and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form a coalition ahead of an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors needed to secure
5810-682: The variant of party-list systems where voters can effectively vote for only political parties as a whole; thus they have no influence on the party-supplied order in which party candidates are elected. If voters had some influence, that would be called an open list . Closed list systems are still commonly used in party-list proportional representation , and most mixed electoral systems also use closed lists in their party list component. Many countries, however have changed their electoral systems to use open lists to incorporate personalised representation to their proportional systems. In closed list systems, each political party has pre-decided who will receive
5893-505: Was a disappointment for the PP as the opinion polls had predicted a victory for them. They did well in the 1994 European and 1995 local elections. On 19 April 1995, Aznar's armored car prevented him from being assassinated by an ETA bomb. The PP won the 3 March 1996 general election with 37.6% of the vote, thus ending 13 years of PSOE rule. With 156 of the 350 seats (the PSOE won 141) Aznar had to reach agreements with two regional nationalist parties, Convergence and Unity (Catalan) and
5976-578: Was able to form the first centre-right government in Spain since 1982 through confidence and supply agreements with Convergence and Union (CiU), the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) and Canarian Coalition (CC). In the 34th congress of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) held in June 1997, Felipe González , who had been prime minister from 1982 to 1996 and PSOE Secretary General since 1974, announced his intention to leave
6059-442: Was allegedly used to receive anonymous donations from business leaders in order to pay "salary supplements" to party officials. In 1977 Aznar married Ana Botella , by whom he has three children: José María, Ana and Alonso. Their daughter married Alejandro Agag at El Escorial on 5 September 2002, and they have four children. In 2008 in response to rumours, Aznar denied being the father of Zohra Dati, daughter of Rachida Dati ,
6142-503: Was born in Madrid in 1953, the son of Manuel Aznar Acedo , an army official, journalist and radio broadcaster, and the grandson of Manuel Aznar Zubigaray , a former Basque nationalist broadcaster who later became a Falangist propagandist and a prominent journalist during the Franco era . Both his father and grandfather held governmental positions during the dictatorship . He was educated at
6225-558: Was dominated by a consensus within the ruling party on economics, regional nationalism, and terrorism, several issues arose which polarized Spanish public opinion. Like UK Prime Minister Tony Blair , Aznar actively supported the United States' War on Terrorism , despite public opposition. Aznar met with Bush in a private meeting before the 2003 invasion of Iraq to discuss the situation in the UN Security Council. El País leaked
6308-434: Was drastically reduced, and large cuts were also made in social spending. Social housing construction fell by over 30%, and households went into debt in response to the sharp rise in the price of building land. In January 2004 Aznar called a general election and designated his successor as candidate, Mariano Rajoy , sticking to a pledge of not seeking office for a third term. Despite political tensions, polls suggested that
6391-477: Was held on 3 March 1996, which meant that the legislature's term would expire on 3 March 2000. The election decree was required to be published in the BOE no later than 8 February 2000, with the election taking place on the fifty-fourth day from publication, setting the latest possible election date for the Cortes Generales on Sunday, 2 April 2000. The prime minister had the prerogative to dissolve both chambers at any given time—either jointly or separately—and call
6474-603: Was invested as president of the region , forming an uneasy coalition government with the Democratic and Social Centre (CDS). In 1989 Aznar was voted by the National Executive Committee of AP to be the new leader of the party, re-founded as the Partido Popular ( People's Party , or PP). With Fraga focused on the presidency of Galicia , Aznar was confirmed as leader of the PP at their 10th National Congress at
6557-436: Was no constitutional requirement for simultaneous elections for the Congress and the Senate. Still, as of 2024 there has been no precedent of separate elections taking place under the 1978 Constitution. It was suggested that Aznar would be tempted to call a snap election after the introduction of the euro was effective at 1 January 1999. Speculation arose among PP ranks and government members that an election would be called in
6640-527: Was not considered senior enough to be a possible successor, and gave his support to Miguel Herrero de Miñón , who lost the leadership bid to Fraga's choice, Antonio Hernández Mancha . As a result, Aznar lost his post as Assistant Secretary General. On 10 June 1987, after having resigned to his seat in the Congress of Deputies, he was elected member of the Cortes of Castile and León in the 1987 Castilian-Leonese regional election , representing Ávila . Soon after, he
6723-446: Was reached between the national leaderships of PSOE and United Left , under which both parties agreed to cooperate in the Senate elections for 27 constituencies: in those districts, and taking consideration of the Senate electoral system allowing up to three votes to each voter, the PSOE would field two candidates to one from IU, with the parties urging voters to cast their votes as if it were a joint list of three. The PSOE also offered IU
6806-467: Was suggested that González could remain as the party's candidate for prime minister in the next general election, he discarded himself out in January 1998. A primary election to elect the prime ministerial candidate, held among PSOE members on 24 April 1998, saw Almunia, supported by González and prominent party "renovators", facing Josep Borrell , the former Minister of Public Works (1991–1996) who received
6889-529: Was unveiled that two of his former employees were involved in a judicial investigation for tax fraud, leaving a vacancy that resulted in Almunia being proclaimed as candidate without opposition. United Left (IU) underwent a severe internal crisis throughout 1997 over Julio Anguita 's confrontational attitude with the PSOE—to the point of siding with the PP in a number of votes in the Congress of Deputies—as well as with
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