Input of new ideas

On Saturday, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba won the right to be secretary general of the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) with a program of ideological rearmament for his party, presenting himself as a "strong leader" who stands for the sovereignty of politics against hounding by economic speculators. While Carme Chacón talked of speed - "I'm not here to manage a crossing of the desert" - Rubalcaba stressed the identity represented by the González and Zapatero governments, using them as levers to rebuild a party that would work for the poor and the middle classes alike, and would maintain a centralized organization, as opposed to a drift toward a "confederation of parties." Completed with the announcement of a party conference before summer, this project won the approval of the majority of delegates to the 38th convention of an organization traumatized by recent electoral defeats.

After making a decisive contribution to the end of ETA violence, Rubalcaba now steps back into the ring at 60. "They're not going to grind me down," said the PSOE's new secretary general, who devoted much of his speech to the "ideological adjustment" undertaken by the right, now in power. Until now, two political forces had alternated at the national and regional levels, projecting that two-party image which - with important exceptions in Catalonia, the Basque Country and the Canary Islands - had characterized the Spanish political system. But the PP's hegemony is now so great that the system has become unbalanced.

Without yielding to the temptation to radicalize the party in the economic and fiscal areas - as Chacón suggested - Rubalcaba drew a red line in the defense of the liberties and civic rights conquered in the course of 30 years of democracy, attributing to the PP an intention to break with the consensus surrounding the 1978 Constitution. The Socialist leader stirred the convention by denouncing the PP's attitude in these areas, announcing his intention of "seriously" revising the agreements with the Holy See, should the right persist in questioning the basic pacts of the last 30 years. The same delegates also applauded Chacón's references to secularism. The stress laid by both candidates on these aspects portends a line of firm opposition in this matter, and a warning to the Catholic Church - generously financed by the public coffers, which has not prevented it from frequent interference in political affairs.

In the short term, upcoming elections in Asturias and Andalusia are the first challenges facing the new leadership. The new leader immediately issued a call for unity. It is a fact that a majority have preferred his plan for safe reform and change, to a new experiment in recasting such as that offered by Chacón. Rubalcaba cannot, however, ignore the narrow (22-vote) margin of difference between himself and Chacón, and the fact that she was Zapatero's more explicitly declared heir. She was defeated in spite of important support in the most numerous party federations: Andalusia, Valencia, Madrid and, of course, Catalonia.

In any case, the PSOE has cleanly chosen the leader with whom it will attempt a comeback. The party is in a tight corner. But the convention has shown its firm intention to step back into the mainstream of Spanish politics.