Spaniards mourned the death of a small-town Socialist politician in a shooting blamed on the Basque separatist group ETA, transforming what was supposed to be a quiet day of reflection before today's general election into a day of grief.
The big question on everyone's mind was what effect, if any, Friday's killing of Isaias Carrasco would have at polling stations: a groundswell of sympathy benefiting Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, or a backlash against him for having negotiated in vain with ETA while conservatives wanted to crush the militant group with police measures.
Until Friday's shooting in broad daylight in the Basque industrial town of Mondragon, Zapatero's party had a 4-percentage-point lead over the conservative Popular Party in three polls released last weekend and Monday -- the last day such surveys could be published. The campaign had been dominated by a cooling economy and concerns over illegal immigration.
PHOTO: AFP
Carrasco was shot three times as he prepared to go to his job as a clerk in a highway toll booth. Yesterday, colleagues decorated it with a bouquet of flowers, candles and a black sash.
A wake for the 42-year-old father of three, was being held yesterday at the town hall in Mondragon, and the funeral was taking place in the evening. Mondragon is heavily pro-Basque independence and is run by a party that judges say is linked to ETA's outlawed political wing, Batasuna. The mayor, Inocencia Galparsoro, voted against a resolution condemning the killing of Carrasco.
The shooting prompted political parties to call off the remainder of their rallies leading up to Friday midnight, when the campaign was to come to an official end. In Spain rallies are banned the day before an election.
Although the scale of bloodshed is much less this time, many Spaniards cannot help but think how the killing is reminiscent of their last election. In March 2004, Islamic militants detonated 10 bombs on packed commuter trains in Madrid, three days before the general election, killing 191 people and leaving more than 1,800 wounded.
Pro-US conservatives in power at the time blamed ETA even as evidence mounted that Islamic militants were to blame. Spaniards saw this as a desperate bid to deflect perceptions that the government's support for Iraq made this country a target for al-Qaeda, and the conservatives lost the election.
The two main parties joined all other parties in Parliament in issuing a statement on Friday night condemning the latest attack and vowing to defeat ETA.
But Mariano Rajoy's Popular Party complained that the other parties rejected its request to add a clause condemning the idea of negotiating with ETA -- clearly a dig at Zapatero.
ETA declared what it called a permanent cease-fire in March 2006 and said it wanted a negotiated settlement to a conflict in which it has killed more than 800 people.
But the group grew frustrated with a lack of concessions in ensuing peace talks and formally called off the truce last June.
BACK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The planned transit by the ‘Baden-Wuerttemberg’ and the ‘Frankfurt am Main’ would be the German Navy’s first passage since 2002 Two German warships are set to pass through the Taiwan Strait in the middle of this month, becoming the first German naval vessels to do so in 22 years, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. Reuters last month reported that the warships, the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main, were awaiting orders from Berlin to sail the Strait, prompting a rebuke to Germany from Beijing. Der Spiegel cited unspecified sources as saying Beijing would not be formally notified of the German ships’ passage to emphasize that Berlin views the trip as normal. The German Federal Ministry of Defense declined to comment. While
‘REGRETTABLE’: TPP lawmaker Vivian Huang said that ‘we will continue to support Chairman Ko and defend his innocence’ as he was transferred to a detention facility The Taipei District Court yesterday ruled that Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) be detained and held incommunicado over alleged corruption dating to his time as mayor of Taipei. The ruling reversed a decision by the court on Monday morning that Ko be released without bail. After prosecutors on Wednesday appealed the Monday decision, the High Court said that Ko had potentially been “actively involved” in the alleged corruption and ordered the district court to hold a second detention hearing. Ko did not speak to reporters upon his arrival at the district court at about 9:10am yesterday to attend a procedural
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
The Executive Yuan yesterday warned against traveling to or doing business in China after reports that Beijing is recruiting Taiwanese to help conceal the use of forced Uighur labor. The government is aware that Taiwan-based influencers and businesses are being asked to make pro-Beijing content and offered incentives to invest in the region, Executive Yuan acting spokeswoman Julia Hsieh (謝子涵) told a news conference. Taiwanese are urged to be aware of the potential personal and reputational harm by visiting or operating businesses in China, Hsieh said, adding that agencies are fully apprised of the situation. A national security official said that former Mainland
RSS