Aznar sets March election date
By CNN's Madrid Bureau Chief Al Goodman
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Canidates Rajoy (right) and Zapatero (left) at a military parade.
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MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- Spain's general elections will be held on March 14, the government has announced.
They will pit conservative Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar's handpicked successor candidate, Mariano Rajoy, against the Socialist Party opposition leader, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
Rajoy has been ahead of Zapatero in various pre-election polls.
Aznar, 50, was first elected in 1996 and re-elected in 2000. He said more than a year ago, well before the war in Iraq, that he would not run for a third term.
Aznar last August ended months of speculation and chose Deputy Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy as the candidate to succeed him at the helm of the ruling conservative Popular Party. (Full story)
Rajoy, 48, had held the post of Spain's first deputy prime minister since 2000, and previously had other Cabinet positions under Aznar. His political fortunes have been tied to Aznar's for years.
Soon after being named successor candidate by Aznar, Rajoy left his government post and in recent months has been preparing his campaign.
Zapatero, 43, has been at the helm of the Socialist Party since July 2000. But he has trailed Rajoy in the polls, and so far has seemingly been unable to capitalize on criticism of Aznar and his policies, especially Aznar's unwavering support for the U.S.-led war in Iraq, despite opinion polls that showed up to 90 percent of Spaniards opposed the war.
Aznar's pro-U.S. policy on Iraq has been unpopular but the opposition have failed to capitalize on this.
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Aznar last August sent 1,300 Spanish combat-trained peacekeeping troops in Iraq, patrolling a section south of Baghdad, as part of his continuing support for the U.S.-led coalition trying to stabilize Iraq.
Aznar and Rajoy also faced criticism from opposition parties and citizens staging large protests for the government's handling of the huge oil spill from the tanker Prestige off northwest Spain in November 2002.
It was widely thought recently here that the elections would be held next March, but the precise date had not been made public.
That uncertainty ended on Friday, when Aznar told his cabinet the date would be March 14, said Eduardo Zaplana, the government's chief spokesman, at a nationally-televised news conference after the weekly cabinet meeting.
The cabinet will hold a special meeting on January 19 to approve a decree officially ending the terms of the Parliament and the Senate, and King Juan Carlos will be formally notified, the necessary prior steps before national elections can be held next March 14, Zaplana said.
