Onus of responsibility on the Popular Party

The Popular Party (PP) has begun revving its engines, before it demands general elections in the wake of the hefty defeat of the Socialists (PSOE) in last Sunday's local and regional elections. As they have done with other matters of great political importance, the PP has cast their principal public personalities in a variety of roles, in such a way as to preserve the center-right image of party leader Mariano Rajoy, avoiding the need to moderate the hard-line rhetoric employed by other top figures in the party. Moreover, other political forces, such as the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), are unexpectedly cramping the Socialist government's room for maneuver.

The Socialist Party finds itself trapped between the need to make a political move in response to the defeat, and the extreme difficulty of doing so, owing to the uncertainties concerning the succession of Prime Minister Zapatero. This is the principal weakness that the PP seems determined to exploit.

The Socialists in Congress have challenged the PP to pass a motion of no confidence. Meanwhile, the PP has challenged the government to submit to a vote of confidence. Both sides know very well that neither of these things is going to happen, however much they may voice their respective demands.

It is striking how the Popular Party is a lot more interested in bringing about early general elections than it is in offering even the sketchiest indications of what measures it would adopt if, as seems likely, it were to form the next national government. The drastic deterioration of the political climate, which was confirmed by the results of last Sunday's elections, operates in favor of the PP and its strategy. But this advantage is not enough for the PP to go on concealing just what sort of alternative it represents. This means thinking not only of the Spanish public, but also of the international economic milieu, which is keeping an incredibly close eye on the political situation in Spain right now.

While it is deciding on the next steps it needs to take to bring about early elections, the PP should explain what it plans to do with the huge chunk of municipal and regional power it has just won. The worst of imaginable errors would be if it attempted to use the difficult financial situation of municipal and regional governments as an instrument to further wear down the Socialist Party at the level of national government. The PP bears its share of blame for this situation in the local and regional governments it already controls, and any sectarian statements it could make would aggravate the economic reality that, according to all forecasts, it will have to cope with after the general elections, whenever these are held.

A landslide victory such as that obtained on Sunday is more an inescapable onus requiring responsible action than a carte blanche for imposing the party's own interests, however urgent these may be, on a country that is mired in one of the deepest political and economic crises in recent memory.