Europe Decides

In the run up to the election campaign, the front pages of today’s national and local newspapers are dominated by the story of the alleged electoral fraud committed by the “Popular Party” in Melilla (one of Spain’s two strategic autonomous cities located in the north of Africa) which has printed its own ballot papers, contrary to electoral law that these should only be printed by local authorities, with the apparent intention of encouraging its supporters.

The approximately 5 percent of the total vote of the north African autonomous cities that will be delivered by mail will be key in the final results. The controversy is open and the Popular Party is under the spotlight, at least until the Electoral Commission, responsible for the transparency of the elections, decides whether or not this constitutes a fraud.

But the ruling Socialist party does not seem to be in much better shape, facing allegations of copying the electoral programme of another party in the Canary Islands and of contacts with the illegalized “Batasuna” in the Basque Community.

Will these allegations really affect the final vote, or will it, as on other occasions, simply benefit those smaller parties which claim to be cleaner and closer to the citizens?

In a new course on the management of political campaigns being taught at the European University of Madrid , (experts have referred to the importance that external elements, which can be somewhat controlled, and therefore modified) can have in campaign results. But it’s important to keep in mind internal elements as well, which are totally unpredictable.

For instance, what can we do if a candidate is really ugly? We can develop a logo with his/her name in gigantic letters, with only a little picture. And what about if he/she is really attractive? Just the opposite then: we will show his/her face as much as we can.

Another important rule to keep in mind, according to the experts, is neither to lie nor to say anything that you might be forced to take back later. This seems easy enough to accomplish, but almost nobody manages. Prime Minister Rodriguez Zapatero was recently faced by the remarks of Spanish citizens at a TV programme for not having fulfilled the promises made during his last electoral campaign. Surely this is only one such example!

In Spain, winning votes is not synonymous with victory. The electoral results of the different parties, particularly in local elections, are closer each time (0.54% between the two main parties in 2003). For this reason, campaigns should not be focused only on the Election Day, but also on the days which follow, when party alliances will be established to create the new governments. Therefore, it is important not to carry out campaigns which might stop future partnerships.

The pre-campaign on the Spanish local and regional elections is currently focused on whether the government should or should not conduct dialogue with the Basque terrorist group ETA, in addition to the developments of the trial on the 11 March bombings. The latter is particularly interesting, as several recent witnesses indicate that members of the former Conservative government lied to the public regarding the origin of the bombing. Was it really a lie, as stated by the ruling Socialist Party or simply consistency with the information which was available at the time of the bombing as argued by the Popular party?