Spain: Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero not to stand again
12:27, 3 April 2011
MADRID. April 3. KAZINFORM Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has said he will not seek a third term in office after parliamentary elections due next year; Kazinform refers to BBC News.
Mr Zapatero, whose popularity is at an all-time low, said it was the right decision for the country, his centre-left Socialist party and his family.
He became Prime Minister in 2004 in the wake of the Madrid train bombings.
Spain's economy was booming then. It has since suffered a deep recession, and unemployment is at 20%.
Mr Zapatero said he would stand down as party leader when a successor had been chosen.
That process - through a series of 'primaries' - will begin after local elections on 22 May.
Read more on this story at www.bbc.co.uk