Casado to revitalise Spain's conservatives
At the conference of the conservative People's Party (PP) Pablo Casado, a representative of the party's conservative wing, has been elected as its new leader. The 37-year-old takes over from Mariano Rajoy, who was ousted by a vote of no confidence at the beginning of June. Does he have the right recipe for Spain's biggest opposition party?
New vitality for old values
Casado is vigorously defending the basic values of the Conservatives which had been forgotten, El Mundo comments approvingly:
“With Pablo Casado's clear victory the People's Party has embraced ideological rearmament and embarked on a journey aimed at recovering its fundamental principles. ... Commitment to Spanish unity, the defence of the constitution, support for families and for a less interventionist economy and lower taxes: all these ideas presented by Casado in his victory speech are part of the PP's treasury which the new leader is now defending. Time will tell whether the party made the right choice. The Spaniards without doubt need those parties which are the bulwarks of the system of rights and liberties which protect us all to be strong.”
This is not what modernisation looks like
With its antiquated demands the People's Party (PP) has no place in modern Spanish democracy, El Pais concludes by contrast:
“It is not possible to return to the abortion law of 1985, to question the Law of Historic Memory or the consequences of the Franco dictatorship. It is likewise impossible to maintain Catholic religion as a graded school subject, to defend an exaggerated centralism or allow a lenient attitude towards corruption to prevail. There is no political niche for going back on the progress made by a democratic society. ... This is not the conservative party Spanish democracy needs. The PP was a key pillar of Spanish politics. It should go back to being one by adapting to modernity.”