Spanish conservative leader Mariano Rajoy on Friday called on his People's Party (PP) to anchor itself firmly in the political centre as the party was opening a three-day congress aimed at defusing a months-long internal crisis, according to dpa. Spain's biggest opposition party would become "more open than ever to all of Spanish society, centrist and tied to general interest," Rajoy said before the congress began in the eastern city of Valencia. Rajoy, 53, was expected to reaffirm his leadership after coming under heavy criticism following his second consecutive election defeat to Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero in March. Former interior minister Rajoy, who has headed the PP since 2003, was regarded as certain to be reconfirmed as party leader. He has announced the choice of Maria Dolores de Cospedal, 42, as new secretary-general in replacement of former interior minister Angel Acebes. With Cospedal as secretary-general and the earlier appointment of Soraya Saenz de Santamaria as the PP spokeswoman in parliament, two of the three top posts within the party are occupied by women in an attempt to give the PP a more modern image. The PP's moderate wing believes the party to have lost votes in the elections over its virulent opposition to Zapatero's failed attempt to negotiate a peace deal with the militant Basque separatist group ETA. Many female and young voters also saw the party as exceedingly conservative on social issues. Rajoy's s attempts to give the PP a more moderate image have earned him criticism from party hardliners such as Madrid regional Prime Minister Esperanza Aguirre and Basque PP leader Maria San Gil, who dealt Rajoy a heavy blow by stepping down over her disagreements with him. Aguirre and former science minister Juan Costa have been tipped as possible successors to Rajoy, but neither of them decided to challenge his leadership, reportedly for fear of not mustering enough support. The internal power struggles within the PP have given a respite to the Zapatero government, which is struggling with a deepening economic downturn linked to a meltdown in the construction sector and the global credit crunch. The appointment of Cospedal was seen as another attempt by Rajoy to portray the PP as a centrist rather than right-wing party. Rajoy was seen as trying to respond to the social liberalism of Zapatero.
