(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The Socialist Worker’s Party (PSOE) is holding on to the top spot in Spain, according to a poll by Publiscopio. 44.5 per cent of respondents would support the governing party in next month’s general election, up 1.5 points since December.

The opposition Popular Party (PP) is second with 38.7 per cent, followed by the coalition of United Left (IU) and Initiative for Catalonia-Greens (IC-V) with 4.6 per cent, Catalonia’s Convergence and Union (CiU) with 2.8 per cent, the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) with 1.6 per cent, and the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) with 1.5 per cent.

PSOE leader José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero was sworn in as president of the government in April 2004, following his party’s victory in the legislative ballot. The conservative PP had administered the government under José María Aznar since 1996. Mariano Rajoy took over as PP leader in August 2003.

In 2003, Aznar backed the United States-led coalition effort in Iraq. Following his victory in the 2004 ballot, Zapatero ordered the return of Spain’s 1,420 soldiers stationed in Iraq just hours after naming his cabinet—as he had promised during the electoral campaign.

On Jan. 27, Rajoy acknowledged that Aznar’s administration—where he served as first vice-president and government speaker—made a mistake in committing troops to Iraq, saying, "If we had known that there were no weapons of mass destruction, we would not have supported the invasion."

The general election is scheduled for Mar. 9.

Polling Data

What party would you support in the next general election?

Source: Publiscopio
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 4,007 Spanish adults, conducted from Jan. 14 to Jan. 24, 2008. Margin of error is 1.3 per cent.

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