Politics
Tuesday March 11, 2008
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Pro-Abortion Socialists Win National Elections in Spain
"Conservative" opposition party presented little difference on life and family issues
By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman
MADRID, March 11, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Spain's Socialist Worker's Party (PSOE) won enough votes on Sunday to perpetuate the regime of Prime Minister José Luís Rodríguez Zapatero, whose administration has sought to expand the availability of abortion, created a system of homosexual "marriage", and liberalized the nation's divorce laws.
Although the PSOE did not win a majority of seats in the nation's parliament, the party will form a coalition with smaller parties to again choose Zapatero as "President of the Government", the Kingdom of Spain's prime minister.
Despite dissatisfaction from various sectors of Spanish society over Zapatero's policies, including his perceived weakness in the face of terrorism from Baque separatists and his anti-family measures, a majority of voters rejected the main opposition party, and its leader, Mariano Rajoy.
Although millions of Spaniards had protested Zapatero's anti-family policies in recent months, Rajoy and his People's Party positioned themselves only marginally closer to a pro-family position. Rajoy refused to consider changing Spain's abortion law, which is one of the most liberal in Europe, and said that he would only rename the country's homosexual "marriage" law, maintaining all of the legal privileges it establishes for homosexual couples.
Instead of presenting a sharp contrast with Zapatero, Rajoy attempted to capitalize on anxiety over a recent economic downturn, and ran a campaign that was seen as empty and negative.
Other factors contributed to the loss of Spain's more conservative party, including its support for a strong central government, a position that differentiates it from American and Canadian conservatism. The People's Party's centralism makes it unpopular with highly nationalistic provinces such as Catalonia, whose overwhelming support of Zapatero was seen as decisive in this year's elections.
A last minute assassination of a socialist politician by Basque separatists is also believed to have created sympathy for the PSOE. The fallen leader's daughter's appeal for socialists to go to the polls in response may have decisively increased the turnout, a crucial factor for the socialists who are popular with younger Spaniards less likely to vote in an election.
Although Zapatero is taking a conciliatory tone in the wake of his victory, he is unlikely to revoke any of the policies that have made him so unpopular with pro-family and pro-life groups in Spain. His win ensures that for the next four years the Spanish family will continue to be undermined and displaced by state power in accordance with secular values.
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