Spain will hold early elections on November 20, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero announced Friday, according to dpa. The elections had been due to take place in March 2012. The change of date will allow the new government to take charge of the economy from the beginning of next year, Zapatero said. The premier said he also wanted to create "political certainty," in an apparent reference to constant speculation and uncertainty about the election date. Zapatero, who has been criticized for his handling of Spain's economic crisis, had come under increasing pressure to move the election date fate forward. The opposition conservatives accused him of allowing the economy to deteriorate, and many within his own Socialist Party reportedly felt snap elections would be beneficial for the governing party as well. The Socialist candidate for prime minister is former interior minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, after Zapatero announced he would not seek a third term. It would have been difficult for Rubalcaba to make campaign promises that the government was not putting into practice, analysts said. The Socialists have also increased their popularity and are no longer lagging as far behind the conservative People's Party (PP) in polls. The elections will pit Rubalcaba against PP leader Mariano Rajoy. On announcing the election date, Zapatero stressed the improvement of the economy which had grown for seven successive quarters. Unemployment dropped slightly in the second quarter, according to figures released Friday. However, Spain's jobless rate of 20.89 per cent is still the eurozone's highest. The government was likely to meet its target of slashing the budget deficit to 4.8 per cent by the end of the year, the rating agency Moody's said, but nevertheless warned that it may downgrade Spain's credit rating in the next three months.
