from the ibiza sun:
PP Clearout
The backlash from the poor election results of the PP party began to take affect on the island during the week with several senior party members resigning, or at the very least, declaring their intention not to run at the next elections. Despite gaining voters on a national scale, The Partido Popular suffered their worst results within the Balearics for almost 20 years. However, the situation was even worse in both Ibiza and Formentera, as Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and his socialist party swept in to Government for the second time.
There was much dismay in Palma as senior members of the PP party called for heads to roll in Ibiza and Minorca, as the two islands pegged back the normal PP landslide.
The result finished level in the Balearics as a whole, with each party winning four seats in Government. However, they were blown away in Ibiza with the PSOE winning democratic elections on the island for the first time in their history - and what a win it was. The PSOE managed to capture 50.73 per cent of the vote, a rise of 5.95 per cent from 2004, with the PP party running a distant second with 42.54 per cent (down 2.34 per cent).
The PSOE party, in fact, won in four of the islands municipalities, with the PP triumphing in just two, San Juan and Santa Eulalia, although in the former with a considerably reduced minority compared to 2004. The biggest loser of the evening was the mayor of San Juan, Antoni Mari Mari Carraca, who eventually lost in the race for the senate by a huge 8.20 per cent to the PSOE candidate, Pere Torres Casetes. The mayor is not accustomed to tasting defeat, having triumphed in the municipal elections last year with over 78 per cent of the vote, one of the highest in Spain. However, when relying on the votes of the whole island, he was unable to convince the voters and was eventually made to pay.
The result led to Pere Palau, the second in command on the island, announcing he would not be running at the next elections, and would be standing down at the first available opportunity. He had wanted to resign after being beaten in the race for the presidency of the Consell by his rival, Xico Tarres, however he was talked out of it by close allies. He said the results proved it was now time for a complete renovation with new faces bringing in fresh ideas. He said it was important that the changes took place sooner rather than later, and promised not to stand in the way of party reforms
The president of the party on the island claimed, after an emergency meeting on Monday night, that his party was unable to reach a significant amount of island residents with their message. He added that the youth had still not been won over, a statistic which needed to change over the next few months.
bye byeee ! !