Zapatero rejects Basque leader's call for special party congress

Facing internal strife over the selection of a new Socialist leader, Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero insisted Wednesday on holding a primary and not calling a special congress, as Basque regional leader Patxi López had proposed.

Zapatero spoke with López by phone to ask him to withdraw his call for a party congress but the Basque Socialist Party chief told the prime minister that a primary isn't enough and demanded talks on the matter. The contrasting views on internal policy reflect blossoming discontent inside the Socialist organization, following its crushing defeat at the polls in Sunday's regional and municipal races.

On Tuesday, López took his party colleagues by surprise by calling for the congress, which he believes would help the incoming secretary general win support among the Socialist Party base.

Among those taken aback was Defense Minister Carme Chacón, who, along with Deputy Prime Minister Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, is the strongest contender.

Chacón complained to Zapatero that she believes a congress would hurt her chances to become secretary general. Some of the Socialist leaders in the regions support López's idea, such as Extremadura regional chief Guillermo Fernández Vara and Jorge Alarte, the party's secretary general in Valencia.

On Friday, Zapatero is expected to meet with the so-called Socialist "barons" ? the regional leaders ? before presiding over the scheduled meeting of the party's federal committee. The prime minister has promised "to look for formulas" to match the celebration of a primary to elect his successor and candidate for the 2012 elections with the messages the Socialists want to get across to voters during the campaign.

But as party officials are still licking their wounds from Sunday's heavy losses in the races, López and his team fear that many members do not understand the voters' disenchantment with the Socialists and want to remedy it by offering the same message to Spaniards.