Spain's election results may lead to a more unpopular government

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/may/28/spain-election-zapatero

The growing gulf between Spain's PSOE government and its population is not likely to close after Zapatero steps down as prime minister, as is expected to take place shortly. His now very likely successor is the government's "strongman" – seen by some as the most able to push through unpopular austerity.

Despite the conservative Popular party's success in last Sunday's municipal and regional elections, there is little evidence that Spaniards want a more rightwing administration. The centre-left PSOE lost three times more votes than the Popular party gained – hardly an endorsement of the latter. Furthermore, surveys continually detect hostility towards both parties and politicians in general. In an April survey, over 46% of interviewees said they "strongly distrusted" opposition leader Mariano Rajoy; almost the same figure as for Zapatero.

This historic level of disaffection with Spain's political class has been a major factor in the continued city square occupations. These have now spread out into local neighbourhoods and are confronting eviction attempts by police.

Disaffection with Spanish democracy also may help explain one of the biggest upsets in the municipal elections on Sunday: the pro-independence coalition Bildu in the Basque country picked up more council seats than any other party in that territory. This leftwing party, which the Spanish right has described as "pro-terrorist" but has openly condemned violence, was very nearly prevented from standing by the supreme court at the request of the government. It is a great irony that the biggest victor in the elections was the only political option previously deemed unsuitable for Spanish democracy.







me: 'just throw the bastards out' is a poor voting philosophy.
i'm not saying the socialists deserved to stay -- not at all.
but i doubt if nationalist conservatives are going to give the protestors what they need.

they need a form of government that does not include the word "monarchy."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchy_of_Spain

The Monarchy of Spain, constitutionally referred to as The Crown and commonly referred to as the Spanish monarchy or (historically) Hispanic Monarchy, is a constitutional institution and an historic office of Spain.<1> The monarchy comprises of a reigning King or Queen of Spain, their family, and the royal household organization which supports and facilitates the monarch in the exercise of his royal duties and prerogatives.<2><3><4> The monarchy is currently represented by King Juan Carlos I, his wife Queen Sofia, and their children and grandchildren.<2><4> Opinion polls routinely reveal that the monarchy remains popular by a wide majority of citizens in contemporary Spain,<5> with as many as 75% of Spanish citizens ranking the monarchy above any other public institution in the country.<6> In 2010, the budget for the Spanish monarchy was 7.4 million Euros, one of the lowest public expenditures for the institution of monarchy in Europe.<7><8>

The Spanish Constitution of 1978 reestablished <1><9> a constitutional monarchy as the form of government for Spain. The 1978 constitution affirmed the role of the King of Spain as the personification and embodiment of the Spanish State and a symbol of Spain's enduring unity and permanence.<2><10> Constitutionally, the king serves as the head-of-state and commander-in-chief of the Spanish Armed Forces.<2><10> The constitution codifies the use of royal styles and titulary, royal prerogatives, hereditary succession to the crown, compensation, and a regency-guardianship contingency in cases of the monarch's minority or incapacitation.<2><10> According to the constitution, the monarch is also instrumental in promoting Ibero-American relations, the "nations of its historical community".<2><10> In this capacity, the King of Spain serves as the president of the Ibero-American States Organization, representing over 700,000,000 people in twenty-four member nations worldwide. In 2008, Juan Carlos I was considered the most popular leader in all Ibero-America.<6><11>

the nationalists aren't going to address the unemployment problem in a way that will satisfy the protesters -- & did the protesters have any goal {i'm sure they did} than to throw the bastards out -- but went with another politically corrupt crew?

This is going to all end in WWIII eventually.

Depending on who wins, those in opposition to the global corporatists will either be remembered in the same breath as the founding fathers of America or the revolutionaries of France or recorded as "terrorists" and looked on as "evil-doers"....