Basque Socialist calls for leadership congress after poll defeat

Two days after a disastrous set of results at the ballot box for Spain's ruling Socialists, Basque regional premier Patxi López on Tuesday threw the cat amongst the pigeons by suggesting the party hold an extraordinary congress to elect Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's successor.

After analyzing the results of the May 22 local and regional elections, in which the Socialists lost in the overall vote by a crushing 10 percentage points to the Popular Party, Basque Socialist leader López stated that the planned primaries "should not be the only answer" in response.

The lehendakari believes that if a new secretary general is elected at a congress, his or her candidacy will be simpler to push through with the weight of support from the main internal organ of the party.

"We have more than enough time," López said, adding that it was necessary the conference be held "calmly, without rushing nor taking decisions in the heat of the moment, but with contributions and debate. We have to decide first what we want to offer and then decide who will lead the project."

López said such an extraordinary congress could take place by the end of the year. It was through the same route that Zapatero came to power in 2000, at the 35th Congress.

The current prime minister beat José Blanco to the secretary generalship by just nine votes in a four-way race, before leading the Socialists to victory in the 2004 general elections. This time two leading ministers, Carme Chacón and Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, are expected to stand.