STANDING DOWN

SPANISH Prime Minister Rodriguez Zapatero has become the latest victim of the long Spanish recession. He has announced that he will not be standing for re-election and his socialist party look set to be defeated at the next general election next year. Zapatero is paying the price for record unemployment and the opposition Partido Popular is well ahead in the opinion polls.

The socialists believe that a change of leadership will change their election fortunes but it is unlikely. During his eight years in power Zapatero has been portrayed as Mr. Bean but he will still be remembered for some courageous decisions. When he first took office one of the first things he did was to withdraw Spanish troops from Iraq. However, he has since committed Spanish troops on numerous dangerous peace-keeping missions across the globe in Lebanon and Afghanistan.

He was one of the first European leaders to commit aircraft for the international force imposing the no-fly zone over Libya. However, Zapatero will be remembered for being Prime Minister during one of the toughest times in Spanish history. He has been blamed for the country´s economic ills, rather unfairly. His critics say that he failed to take the right action to solve Spain´s economic ills. His fans say that he saved Spain from economic meltdown thanks to his strict economic measures. The fact that he is not standing is a sure sign that his critics were probably right.