Conservative Party Regains Power in Local Madrid Election

By DALE FUCHS

Published: October 27, 2003


MADRID, Oct. 26 — Prime Minister José María Aznar's conservative Popular Party regained control of the Madrid regional legislature in elections on Sunday, reversing a vote five months ago that had briefly given control to the leftist opposition.

The Madrid election has been widely considered a litmus test for national elections in March, in which the Socialist Party hopes to unseat the Popular Party after eight years of rule. The results on Sunday seemed to diminish that possibility.


The Popular Party candidate, Esperanza Aguirre, and her deputies received about 48 percent of the vote, more than the two major opposition parties, the Socialists and United Left, combined.

In a May 25 election, the Socialist and United Left parties won enough combined votes to govern. Or so it seemed, until two Socialist deputies defected. That prevented the formation of a governing coalition, which meant voters had to recast ballots.

All summer, Madrid's regional parliament investigated accusations that the rogue deputies had been bribed by real estate interests and by the Popular Party itself. The inquiry yielded no conclusions.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/27/international/europe/27MADR.html?th