Mariano Rajoy
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Mariano Rajoy
Mariano Rajoy Brey during a speech in Bilbao
Leader of the Opposition in Congress
Incumbent
Assumed office  April 17, 2004
Preceded by	José Luís Rodríguez Zapatero
13th Vice President of the Spanish Government
In office April 28, 2000 – September 3, 2003
President	José María Aznar López
Preceded by	Francisco Álvarez-Cascos
Succeeded by	Rodrigo Rato Figaredo
Born	March 27, 1955 Santiago de Compostela, Corunna, Galicia, Spain
Political party	Partido Popular
Spouse	Elvira Fernández
Children	2
Residence	Madrid, Spain
Religion	Roman Catholic
Website	PP website

Mariano Rajoy Brey (pronounced [maˈɾjano raˈxoj]) (born March 27, 1955) is a Spanish politician. As the leader of the conservative Popular Party (PP) he is currently leader of the opposition in the Spanish parliament. Having served as minister in previous PP cabinets, Rajoy was appointed by his party as its candidate for prime minister in the controversial Spanish general election on March 14, 2004. That election was won by the then opposition Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) in the aftermath of the Madrid train bombings.

Biography

Rajoy was born in Santiago de Compostela, in Galicia in north-western Spain, a traditionally conservative region. He holds a degree in law from the University of Santiago de Compostela and at the age of 24 he became the youngest ever property registrar of Spain (one of the most difficult positions in the Spanish administration to reach).

Early political career

He started his political career in Galicia in 1981, as a member of the right-wing Alianza Popular ("People's Alliance", AP) becoming a deputy in the Galician autonomous Parliament in this year. In 1982 he was designated Minister of Institutional Relations of the Xunta de Galicia

On June 11 1986 was elected President of the Provincial Deputation of Pontevedra, a position he held until July of 1991

In the general elections of the 22 of June 1986, he obtained a seat in the Congress of Deputies as the head of the PP's list for Pontevedra, although he resigned in November to take up the post of vice-president of the Xunta of Galicia following the resignation of Xosé Luis Barreiro and the rest of the ministers. He occupied this latter position until the end of September 1987.

When in 1989 the AP re-branded itself as the Partido Popular, with Manuel Fraga Iribarne as its president, Rajoy was named a member of the National Executive Committee of the PP and delegate for Pontevedra. He was reelected to parliament in 1993.

Before the PP's triumph in the 1996 elections, he was a PP designated member of the "Commission of Parliamentary Control of RTVE".

Minister of Spain (1996-2004)

Mariano Rajoy in 2002 as Interior Minister

A long-time collaborator with José María Aznar, he moved into national politics when Aznar became Prime Minister in 1996 with the supports of PNV, CiU and Canarian Coalition, serving as Minister of Public administration and Minister of Education and Culture with the first Aznar administration.

In 1996 he married a fellow Galician Elvira Fernandez Balboa.

He managed the successful People's Party campaign in the 2000 elections. A thankful Aznar named him as Vice President of Spanish Government

In February 2001 he was named Minister of the Interior, after Jaime Mayor Oreja decided to run a head of the People's Party in the 2001 Basque Elections.

On 30 August 2003 Aznar announced that he would retire from politics in 2004 elections and proposed Rajoy as his successor. After the 14th Congress of the People's Party in October 2004 he became the Party's new Chairman; at that moment he had already left the government as Zapatero was the Prime Minister.

Candidacy and Leader of the opposition (2004 to present)

Mariano Rajoy (right) and Ángel Acebes.

Three days before the 2004 general elections there took place the terrorist attacks in Madrid on March 11, which were initially blamed on the ETA terrorist organisation and later on Al-Qaida. Aznar's government and Party leaders insisted on accusing ETA of the attacks, and on March 13, Rajoy claimed to be convinced of their responsibility for these crimes.^[1]. They were accused of attempting to blame ETA for the attacks in order to stay on track to win the elections (as they were heavily favored to), but then news broke that it was Al-Qaida, rather than ETA. The trial for the bombings started on February 15 of 2007

On March 14, 2004 the PSOE, under the leadership of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, won the elections with a majority of 1,300,000 votes over the PP, and obtained 164 deputies; on the other hand, the PP obtained 9,763,144 votes (a very similar figure to the 1996 total) but 148 deputies, 35 less than obtained in 2000.^[1] Mariano Rajoy was elected for the province of Madrid.

Mariano Rajoy at the moment occupies the Presidency of the Popular Party, the main opposition party.

On December 1, 2005 he survived a helicopter accident, along with Madrid Regional Government President Esperanza Aguirre, in which he broke a finger.^[2]

Mariano Rajoy recently faced a serious situation within his party after receiving public pressure from the electorally successful Alberto Ruiz Gallardón (Madrid's Mayor) to be included in the PP lists for the upcoming general election in March 2008. Mr. Gallardón represents a more centrist sector within the party, whereas Rajoy, Angel Acebes and Eduardo Zaplana are widely accepted^vague as representing a more conservative wing of the party, closer to José Maria Aznar^{citation needed}. Rajoy's final decision was to leave Gallardón out of the list for those elections, an action which has provoked concern among some about the alienation of potential PP voters. Some experts and newspapers have even argued that this could cost Rajoy the elections^{citation needed}. In any case, the power struggle for succession should Rajoy lose the election has created a tense situation for him and for the party.^[3]

On January 30, 2008, Rajoy received the public support of Germany's Angela Merkel and France's Nicolas Sarkozy for the upcoming March Spanish general election^[4][5]

His party conceded defeat in the March 9, 2008 national elections.

Criticisms of Zapatero's Administration

His criticisms of the present government have been focused on what he perceives as:

• the derogation of ambitious plans of the previous executive
  • Plan Hidrológico Nacional National Hydrological Plan
  • LOCE Organic Law on the Quality of Education
• The alleged "unnecessary" statutory reforms, such as submitted in the Catalan, Andalusian and Galician referendums with very high levels of abstention. According to Rajoy, some of those reforms constitute concealed changes of the autonomous communities towards a confederation, endangering the integrity of the State. He has said that if Zapatero wants to apply his view of Spain, should better propose a reform of the Spanish Constitution, a reform that would need the approval in referendum of the Spaniards.
• The alleged weakness facing the peace process opened as a result of the permanent cease-fire declared by terrorist organization ETA in 2006, broken by Barajas bombing and Pistols robbery.
• The introduction of a citizenship subject in the last years of secondary education (Educación para la Ciudadanía) of polemic content (whose opponents, mainly the Catholic Church, and affiliated organisations, say it is non-neutral and gives some left-wing political indoctrination). Rajoy has announced its cancellation if he wins the next elections.
• Foreign policy
  • the alleged cold relations with United States and Poland
  • the supposed alliances with the Venezuela of Hugo Chávez, the Cuba of Castro and the Bolivia of Evo Morales
  • Immigration policy

References