Spain opposition leader stays after election loss
MADRID, March 11 (Reuters) - The leader of Spain's conservative opposition Popular Party, Mariano Rajoy, said on Tuesday he would fight on despite his second general election defeat by the socialists.
After two days of speculation about his future, Rajoy said he would present himself for re-election as party leader at the party's next conference in June.
"I'm going to present myself because the candidacy which I headed improved results ... because I believe it is the best thing for the Popular Party and above all for Spain", Rajoy told reporters after meeting members of the PP's executive committee.
On Sunday, the ruling Socialists won the election and gained five seats for a total of 169 in the 350-seat parliament.
The Popular Party also gained five seats to reach 153, while smaller left-wing parties and some nationalist parties lost ground.
The Spanish media immediately began speculating about whether Rajoy would quit after losing again to Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
By Monday morning, right-of-centre columnists were calling on Rajoy to resign.
The influential right-wing daily El Mundo carried four editorials arguing that Rajoy should go to give the party a chance of returning to power.
"The crude reality is that it was Zapatero who won the elections and who can govern for another four years with 169 seats, which leaves him very close to an absolute majority", El Mundo's editor, Pedro Ramirez, wrote in the paper's leader. (Reporting by Sarah Morris, editing by Tim Pearce)
After two days of speculation about his future, Rajoy said he would present himself for re-election as party leader at the party's next conference in June.
"I'm going to present myself because the candidacy which I headed improved results ... because I believe it is the best thing for the Popular Party and above all for Spain", Rajoy told reporters after meeting members of the PP's executive committee.
On Sunday, the ruling Socialists won the election and gained five seats for a total of 169 in the 350-seat parliament.
The Popular Party also gained five seats to reach 153, while smaller left-wing parties and some nationalist parties lost ground.
The Spanish media immediately began speculating about whether Rajoy would quit after losing again to Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
By Monday morning, right-of-centre columnists were calling on Rajoy to resign.
The influential right-wing daily El Mundo carried four editorials arguing that Rajoy should go to give the party a chance of returning to power.
"The crude reality is that it was Zapatero who won the elections and who can govern for another four years with 169 seats, which leaves him very close to an absolute majority", El Mundo's editor, Pedro Ramirez, wrote in the paper's leader. (Reporting by Sarah Morris, editing by Tim Pearce)
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