SPAIN/ETA POLICY: GOVERNMENT AND OPPOSITION FIND

UNCLAS MADRID 000081 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PTER SP SUBJECT: SPAIN/ETA POLICY: GOVERNMENT AND OPPOSITION FIND NO COMMON GROUND IN PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE REF: MADRID 21 (AND PREVIOUS) ¶1. (U) In a lengthy and oftentimes vitriolic debate in the Spanish Parliament on January 15, President Zapatero and opposition Popular Party (PP) leader Mariano Rajoy traded verbal blows over the GOS' anti-terrorism policies and the way forward on forging an anti-terrorism pact among the parliamentary coalitions. Speaking during the first congressional debate since the December 30 ETA bombing that killed two Ecuadorian citizens and destroyed a large portion of a parking garage at Madrid's Barajas International Airport, Zapatero led off the proceedings with a prepared statement in which he admitted to the Spanish people that he had been overly optimistic about the potential for negotiations with the terrorist group. Zapatero defended his efforts to put an end to ETA violence through dialogue and demanded the support of all Spanish political parties to achieve a "grand consensus against terrorism." Zapatero said that the sole objective of his address before Congress was to reestablish a broad democratic consensus against terrorism, and announced that he will attempt to expand a political pact against ETA that was signed between his Socialist party and the PP back in 2000. Zapatero now wants to enlarge the anti-terror pact to include "all democratic political parties and social and civic organizations." ¶2. (U) PP leader Rajoy responded that he would attend the meeting of the pact committee but would not accept any changes to the agreement or expansion of its members. Rajoy argued that he would have a hard time trusting any of Zapatero's new proposals regarding ETA after the "mistake" of the peace process. Rajoy was quoted in left-leaning El Pais as saying during his prepared remarks, "There would be no bigger error than accompanying you in your failure, you have been mistaken in everything, you have committed so many errors they are burying you." The testiest exchange in the debate came when Rajoy said, "If you (Zapatero) do not comply with what the terrorists want, ETA will plant bombs; if there are no bombs, it is because you have conceded." Zapatero called those comments "shameful and contemptible," and tried unsuccessfully to have Rajoy retract them. Zapatero also harshly criticized Rajoy for being the only opposition leader who had failed to rally with the government after an ETA attack. ¶3. (U) Most Spanish media outlets today highlighted the entrenchment of each side's position and agreed that there does not at present appear to be common ground on which the main parties can meet to forge an anti-terrorism pact. Zapatero is being praised in some quarters for admitting his excessive optimism in the potential for peace talks and dialogue to bring about an end to ETA violence, and all the other political parties represented in the parliamentary debate--save the PP--are supporting his plans to forge a broad, anti-terrorism pact. The PP is refusing to join any grand consensus that would, in its view, water down the GOS' response to fighting ETA. In a previously-scheduled courtesy call with the DCM on January 16, PP Secretary General Angel Acebes said that the PP would not join in any anti-terrorism coalition with parties that support continued dialogue with ETA or political participation with ETA's outlawed political wing Batasuna. He further rejected Zapatero's call for unity because, "Zapatero talks of 'unity' and 'consensus,' but does not address the contents of such a consensus." ¶4. (SBU) Comment: The congressional debate was the latest (but most vitriolic) chapter in the worsening relationship between the Socialist government of President Zapatero and the opposition Popular Party. Despite Acebes' statement to the DCM today that PP leader Rajoy criticized Zapatero's anti-terrorism policy, "not for the mere purpose of Parliamentary debate or to win elections, but because of strongly-held principles," it is clear that the PP senses that Zapatero may be vulnerable. The upcoming May local and regional elections could provide Spanish voters with the opportunity to judge the government on its handling of the Basque separatist issue. Aguirre