Keeping things vague

Ambiguous may be the best word to describe the Popular Party's electoral program. Indeed, the right-wing grouping seems to have sought refuge in the policy with a determination that borders on the absurd. Party leader Mariano Rajoy has become something of an expert in side- stepping any issue that requires a detailed answer. He is clearly hoping that the Socialist Party's unpopularity alone will sweep him into power.

With just six weeks to go before the country goes to the polls in regional and municipal elections, the Popular Party (PP) has made it clear that it wants to govern, but has yet to provide a satisfactory or meaningful explanation of quite how it intends to do so. It now seems to be hoping that a power struggle will be unleashed in the Socialist Party following Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's decision not to run for a third term, and that this will further boost its chances.

Ever since the government began rolling out the reforms needed for Spain to be able to finance its debt, the Popular Party has increasingly fallen back on ambiguity when asked about its economic policies. Instead of providing answers, it simply points to its lead in the opinion polls, failing to take into consideration either the needs of this country or the recent experience of Portugal, which has had to seek financial aid from the European Union.

The European Commission says it intends to question candidates in next year's general election on their economic policies. Mariano Rajoy will either be unable to answer, or between now and next year will have to start letting the electorate in on what until now has been a rigorously kept secret.

The PP's policy of ambiguity extends to other key areas as well, such as terrorism. Rajoy may have kept his council over the government's policies in dealing with ETA, but other senior figures in his party have not; what's more, it is clear that they are, in effect, speaking on his behalf so that he can remain silent without alienating the PP's more extreme voters.

The demonstration organized on Saturday by organizations representing the victims of ETA terrorism is a perfect illustration of the PP's approach. Rajoy refused to say until the last minute whether he would take part, while the PP's secretary general, María Dolores Cospedal, said from the start that she would be in attendance, along with other leading party figures.

Similarly, in Valencia, where the ruling PP is embroiled in corruption allegations, the list of candidates was not released until the end of last week. It has since been confirmed that the Popular Party intends to include among its candidates up to 11 people who are accused of involvement in corruption. Its approach in this regard should perhaps be taken as an indication of how it intends to deal with other corruption cases affecting the party, and which it has managed so far to avoid addressing.

It seems that the PP's way of doing politics is to avoid reaching out to that segment of the electorate that still sees it as a reactionary force. But hiding its true nature behind ambiguity is nothing less than an insult to Spanish democracy.