Mariano Rajoy
Encyclopedia
Mariano Rajoy Brey is a Spanish People's Party
politician and is the Prime Minister-elect
since 20 November 2011. He will be sworn into office in mid-December 2011.
Under Prime Minister
José María Aznar
, Rajoy was Minister of Public Administration from 1996 to 1999 and Minister of Education from 1999 to 2000; he then served as Deputy Prime Minister from 2000 to 2003. Rajoy led the People's Party into the March 2004 general election, but that election was won by the opposition Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
(PSOE) in the aftermath of the 2004 Madrid train bombings. Subsequently Rajoy was Leader of the Opposition
from 2004 to 2011.
, Galicia, Rajoy graduated from the University of Santiago de Compostela
. At the age of 24, he passed the competitive examination required in Spain to enter into the civil service, becoming the youngest ever property registrar
.
(AP), becoming a deputy in the inaugural legislature of the Galician Parliament. In 1982, he was appointed by Galician regional President, Antonio Rosón Pérez, as Minister of Institutional Relations of the Xunta de Galicia
. On June 11, 1986, Rajoy was elected President of the Provincial Council of Pontevedra
, a position he held until July 1991.
In the General Elections
of 22 June 1986, he obtained a seat in the Congress of Deputies as the head of the AP'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 merged with other parties to form the People's Party
(PP), with Manuel Fraga as its president, Rajoy was named a member of its National Executive Committee 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 the RTVE
".
, Rajoy made the move into national politics when Aznar became Prime Minister in 1996 with the support of Basque Nationalist Party
(PNV), Convergence and Union (CiU) and the Canarian Coalition
, serving as Minister of Public administration and Minister of Education and Culture in 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 grateful Aznar appointed him Deputy Prime Minister of the Spanish Government. In February 2001 he was named Minister of the Interior, after Jaime Mayor Oreja
decided to run as head of the People's Party list in the 2001 Basque Elections
.
On 30 August 2003 Aznar announced that he would retire from politics in the 2004 elections and proposed Rajoy as his successor. After the 14th Congress of the People's Party in October 2004 he became the new Chairman of the party, by then in the opposition, having lost the elections to the PSOE.
terrorist attacks occurred in Madrid
on 11 March, which were initially blamed on ETA
and later on Al-Qaeda
. Aznar's government and Party leaders insisted on accusing the armed Basque separatist organisation ETA of the attacks, and on 13 March, Rajoy claimed to believe this because he was convinced of their will and capability for committing such crimes,. The government was 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 do), but then news broke that it was Al-Qaida, rather than ETA.
On 14 March 2004 the PSOE, under the leadership of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
, won the elections with a majority of 1,300,000 votes over the PP, and obtained 164 deputies, while the PP obtained 9,763,144 votes but 148 deputies, 35 less than they obtained in 2000. Rajoy was elected for the province of Madrid
.
On 1 December 2005, Rajoy survived a helicopter accident, along with Madrid Regional Government President Esperanza Aguirre
; he broke a finger in the accident.
Rajoy 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 March 2008 general election
. Gallardón represents a more centrist sector within the party, whereas Rajoy, Angel Acebes
and Eduardo Zaplana
are widely accepted as representing a more conservative wing of the party, closer to Aznar. Rajoy's final decision was to leave Gallardón out of the list for those elections, an action which provoked concern about the alienation of potential PP voters. Some experts and newspapers even argued that it could cost Rajoy the elections. In any case, the power struggle for succession created a tense situation for him and for the party.
On 30 January 2008, Rajoy received the support of Germany's Angela Merkel
and France's Nicolas Sarkozy
for the March 2008 general election. The PP was defeated in the general election, however, and Rajoy continued to lead his party in opposition.
His criticisms of the Zapatero administration were focused on what he perceived as:
People's Party (Spain)
The People's Party is a conservative political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation in 1989 of the People's Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship...
politician and is the Prime Minister-elect
Prime Minister of Spain
The President of the Government of Spain , sometimes known in English as the Prime Minister of Spain, is the head of Government of Spain. The current office is established under the Constitution of 1978...
since 20 November 2011. He will be sworn into office in mid-December 2011.
Under Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Spain
The President of the Government of Spain , sometimes known in English as the Prime Minister of Spain, is the head of Government of Spain. The current office is established under the Constitution of 1978...
José María Aznar
José María Aznar
José María Alfredo Aznar López served as the Prime Minister of Spain from 1996 to 2004. He is on the board of directors of News Corporation.-Early life:...
, Rajoy was Minister of Public Administration from 1996 to 1999 and Minister of Education from 1999 to 2000; he then served as Deputy Prime Minister from 2000 to 2003. Rajoy led the People's Party into the March 2004 general election, but that election was won by the opposition Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is a social-democratic political party in Spain. Its political position is Centre-left. The PSOE is the former ruling party of Spain, until beaten in the elections of November 2011 and the second oldest, exceeded only by the Partido Carlista, founded in...
(PSOE) in the aftermath of the 2004 Madrid train bombings. Subsequently Rajoy was Leader of the Opposition
Leader of the Opposition (Spain)
The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest party not in government in the Congress of Deputies, the lower house of the Spanish parliament, the Cortes Generales...
from 2004 to 2011.
Early life and education
Born in Santiago de CompostelaSantiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain.The city's Cathedral is the destination today, as it has been throughout history, of the important 9th century medieval pilgrimage route, the Way of St. James...
, Galicia, Rajoy graduated from the University of Santiago de Compostela
University of Santiago de Compostela
The Royal University of Santiago de Compostela - USC is a public university located in the city of Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain. A second campus is located in Lugo, Galicia....
. At the age of 24, he passed the competitive examination required in Spain to enter into the civil service, becoming the youngest ever property registrar
Recorder of deeds
Recorder of deeds is a government office tasked with maintaining public records and documents, especially records relating to real estate ownership that provide persons other than the owner of a property with real rights over that property.-Background:...
.
Early political career
Rajoy started his political career in 1981, as a member of the right-wing party People's AlliancePeople's Alliance
People's Alliance may refer to:*The People's Alliance , Belgian political party which split in 2001 into the Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie and Spirit...
(AP), becoming a deputy in the inaugural legislature of the Galician Parliament. In 1982, he was appointed by Galician regional President, Antonio Rosón Pérez, as Minister of Institutional Relations of the Xunta de Galicia
Xunta de Galicia
The Xunta de Galicia is the collective decision-making body of the government of the autonomous community of Galicia, composed of the President, the Vice-President and the specialized ministers ....
. On June 11, 1986, Rajoy was elected President of the Provincial Council of Pontevedra
Pontevedra
Pontevedra is a city in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula. It is the capital of both the comarca and province of Pontevedra, in Galicia . It is also the capital of its own municipality which is, in fact, often considered as an extension of the actual city...
, a position he held until July 1991.
In the General Elections
Spanish general election, 1986
General elections were held in Spain on 23 June 1986. In this election, the Communist Party of Spain merged with other minor left parties to form the coalition Izquierda Unida; in Catalonia they ran as the Catalan Left Union. Similarly, the People's Alliance merged with two other conservative...
of 22 June 1986, he obtained a seat in the Congress of Deputies as the head of the AP's list for Pontevedra
Pontevedra (Spanish Congress Electoral District)
Pontevedra is one of the 52 electoral districts used for the Spanish Congress of Deputies - the lower chamber of the Spanish Parliament, the Cortes Generales. It is one of the four electoral districts which correspond to the provinces of Galicia...
, 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 merged with other parties to form the People's Party
People's Party (Spain)
The People's Party is a conservative political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation in 1989 of the People's Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship...
(PP), with Manuel Fraga as its president, Rajoy was named a member of its National Executive Committee 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 the RTVE
RTVE
The Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española, S.A. or Corporación Radiotelevisión Española is the state-owned public corporation that assumed the indirect management of the Spanish public radio and television service from Ente Público Radiotelevisión Española in 2007...
".
Minister of the Interior: 1996–2004
A long-time associate of José María AznarJosé María Aznar
José María Alfredo Aznar López served as the Prime Minister of Spain from 1996 to 2004. He is on the board of directors of News Corporation.-Early life:...
, Rajoy made the move into national politics when Aznar became Prime Minister in 1996 with the support of Basque Nationalist Party
Basque Nationalist Party
The Basque National Party is the largest and oldest Basque nationalist party. It is currently the largest political party in the Basque Autonomous Community also with a minor presence in Navarre and a marginal one in the French Basque Country...
(PNV), Convergence and Union (CiU) and the Canarian Coalition
Canarian Coalition
The Canarian Coalition , abbreviated to CC, is a Canarian nationalist and liberal political party in the Canary Islands of Spain. The party aim is for greater autonomy for the islands, but short of independence. The party has governed the Canary Islands since 1993...
, serving as Minister of Public administration and Minister of Education and Culture in 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 grateful Aznar appointed him Deputy Prime Minister of the Spanish Government. In February 2001 he was named Minister of the Interior, after Jaime Mayor Oreja
Jaime Mayor Oreja
Jaime Mayor Oreja, is a €Spain|Spanish]] politician who served as Interior Minister in the People's Party government of José María Aznar before resigning in February 2001 to stand for Basque President on 13 May 2001, a post he failed to win. He is known for his strongly anti-ETA views.He graduated...
decided to run as head of the People's Party list in the 2001 Basque Elections
Basque parliamentary election, 2001
Elections to the Parliament of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain, were held on May 13, 2001.The electoral coalition Eusko Alkartasuna-Basque Nationalist Party won 33 seats, the People`s Party came second with 19 seats, the Socialist Party of the Basque Country came in third with...
.
On 30 August 2003 Aznar announced that he would retire from politics in the 2004 elections and proposed Rajoy as his successor. After the 14th Congress of the People's Party in October 2004 he became the new Chairman of the party, by then in the opposition, having lost the elections to the PSOE.
Leader of the Opposition: 2004–2011
Three days before the 2004 general electionsSpanish legislative election, 2004
Legislative elections were held in Spain on 14 March 2004. At stake were all 350 seats in the lower house of the Cortes Generales, the Congress of Deputies, and 208 seats in upper house, the Senate. The governing People's Party was led into the campaign by Mariano Rajoy, successor to outgoing...
terrorist attacks occurred in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
on 11 March, which were initially blamed on ETA
ETA
ETA , an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization. The group was founded in 1959 and has since evolved from a group promoting traditional Basque culture to a paramilitary group with the goal of gaining independence for the Greater Basque Country...
and later on Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
. Aznar's government and Party leaders insisted on accusing the armed Basque separatist organisation ETA of the attacks, and on 13 March, Rajoy claimed to believe this because he was convinced of their will and capability for committing such crimes,. The government was 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 do), but then news broke that it was Al-Qaida, rather than ETA.
On 14 March 2004 the PSOE, under the leadership of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is a member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party . He was elected for two terms as Prime Minister of Spain, in the 2004 and 2008 general elections. On 2 April 2011 he announced he will not stand for re-election in 2012...
, won the elections with a majority of 1,300,000 votes over the PP, and obtained 164 deputies, while the PP obtained 9,763,144 votes but 148 deputies, 35 less than they obtained in 2000. Rajoy was elected for the province of Madrid
Madrid (Spanish Congress Electoral District)
Madrid is one of the 52 electoral districts used for the Spanish Congress of Deputies - the lower chamber of the Spanish Parliament, the Cortes Generales. It has the largest electorate of all the 52 districts. Madrid is the largest city...
.
On 1 December 2005, Rajoy survived a helicopter accident, along with Madrid Regional Government President Esperanza Aguirre
Esperanza Aguirre
Esperanza Aguirre y Gil de Biedma, Countess of Murillo, Grandee of Spain, DBE is a Spanish politician and the current President of Madrid...
; he broke a finger in the accident.
Rajoy 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 March 2008 general election
Spanish general election, 2008
Legislative elections for the Spanish Cortes Generales were held on March 9, 2008. The elections were for 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies, and the 208 directly elected seats in the upper house, the Senate, determining the Prime Minister of Spain...
. Gallardón represents a more centrist sector within the party, whereas Rajoy, Angel Acebes
Ángel Acebes
Ángel Acebes Paniagua is a Spanish politician.Married, Acebes holds a degree in law from the University of Salamanca, although he has been a member of parliament for the rightwing People's Party since 1996 representing Avila.Acebes played a key role in securing the support of minority parties and...
and Eduardo Zaplana
Eduardo Zaplana
Eduardo Andrés Julio Zaplana Hernández-Soro is a Spanish politician who served as the Partido Popular spokesman in the Spanish Congress of Deputies from 2004 to 2008.-Biography:...
are widely accepted as representing a more conservative wing of the party, closer to Aznar. Rajoy's final decision was to leave Gallardón out of the list for those elections, an action which provoked concern about the alienation of potential PP voters. Some experts and newspapers even argued that it could cost Rajoy the elections. In any case, the power struggle for succession created a tense situation for him and for the party.
On 30 January 2008, Rajoy received the support of Germany's Angela Merkel
Angela Merkel
Angela Dorothea Merkel is the current Chancellor of Germany . Merkel, elected to the Bundestag from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has been the chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union since 2000, and chairwoman of the CDU-CSU parliamentary coalition from 2002 to 2005.From 2005 to 2009 she led a...
and France's Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....
for the March 2008 general election. The PP was defeated in the general election, however, and Rajoy continued to lead his party in opposition.
His criticisms of the Zapatero administration were focused on what he perceived as:
- The derogation of ambitious plans of the previous executive
- The Plan Hidrológico Nacional National Hydrological Plan
- The LOCE Organic Law on the Quality of Education
- The alleged "unnecessary" statutory reforms, such as submitted in the CatalanCataloniaCatalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
, and AndalusiaAndalusiaAndalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...
n 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, it would be better if he proposed a reform of the Spanish Constitution, a reform that would need approval in a national referendum. - The alleged weakness facing the peace process opened as a result of the permanent ceasefire declared by the organisation ETA in 2006, broken by the Barajas bombing2006 Madrid Barajas International Airport bombingThe 2006 Madrid-Barajas Airport bombing occurred on December 30, 2006 when a van bomb exploded in the parking of the Terminal 4 of the Madrid-Barajas Airport in Spain, killing two and injuring 52. On January 9, 2007, the Basque nationalist and separatist organisation ETA claimed responsibility for...
and the arms 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 is non-neutral and gives some left-wing political indoctrination). Rajoy has announced its cancellation if he wins the next elections.
- The legalization of abortion until 14 weeks of pregnancy, a law that Mariano Rajoy sees as "criminal" and against the will of large sectors of the Spanish society.
- In Foreign policyForeign policyA country's foreign policy, also called the foreign relations policy, consists of self-interest strategies chosen by the state to safeguard its national interests and to achieve its goals within international relations milieu. The approaches are strategically employed to interact with other countries...
- The alleged cold relations with United States and Poland.
- The supposed alliances with the VenezuelaVenezuelaVenezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
of Hugo ChávezHugo ChávezHugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the 56th and current President of Venezuela, having held that position since 1999. He was formerly the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when he became the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela...
, the CubaCubaThe Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
of CastroFidel CastroFidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
and the BoliviaBoliviaBolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
of Evo MoralesEvo MoralesJuan Evo Morales Ayma , popularly known as Evo , is a Bolivian politician and activist, currently serving as the 80th President of Bolivia, a position that he has held since 2006. He is also the leader of both the Movement for Socialism party and the cocalero trade union...
. - Immigration policy.
Ancestry
External links
- Personal page
- Extensive biography by CIDOB (in Spanish)
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