MADRID: With a string of insults and a ready smile, Pablo Casado, the young leader of Spain’s conservative Popular Party (PP), is waging an aggressive election campaign as he seeks to stop votes haemorrhaging to the far-right.
The 38-year-old took the helm of the PP in July after winning hard-fought primaries when then prime minister Mariano Rajoy was ousted by a vote of no-confidence.
Close to another former Spanish premier, the combative Jose Maria Aznar, Casado is a strong conservative who frowns on abortion, is against euthanasia and the exhumation of late dictator Francisco Franco’s remains from an opulent mausoleum.
He also wants to take direct control of the separatist-governed region of Catalonia to nip secession in the bud.
Steering the PP further to the right, he has promised to breathe new life into the party.
But that was without counting on unexpected competition from far-right party Vox, which burst onto the scene in December regional elections in southern Andalusia after languishing on the distant margins of politics.
Vox now threatens to make major in-roads into the national parliament at Spain’s snap general election on April 28, gnawing away at the PP’s electorate on the right.
Then there is also centre-right Ciudadanos, chipping at the PP on the left.
Stuck in the middle is Casado, who not only has to deal with this new reality but also has had little time to prepare.
“I think what we’re doing... is a superhuman effort,” he acknowledged in an interview with Spanish radio earlier this month, pointing to the 130,000 kilometres (81,000 miles) he had covered in “three tours of Spain.”
“I think that work will be rewarded but obviously the situation I was handed wasn’t easy.”
Cesar Calderon, head of political consultancy Redlines, says that “Casado is faced with a hugely complex campaign.”
“In all past elections, the PP had the confessional, rural and traditionalist right-wing vote assured.”
That, he says, is no longer the case as they now have a more radical alternative in Vox, and Casado has had to tailor his message accordingly.
So it is that the married father-of-two has lashed out viciously at his main bugbears.
And no one generates as much animosity as his rival, socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez whom he accuses of having cosied up to Catalan separatists and Basque nationalists to prop up his minority government.
In his eyes, Sanchez is “the biggest traitor in Spain’s democratic history“, a “compulsive liar“, “disloyal“, “egotist“, “mediocre“, “a disaster for the future of Spain” and an “illegitimate prime minister” – all proffered in one fiery speech in February.
For Lucia Mendez, a veteran journalist at conservative daily El Mundo, Casado’s actions are “moved by fear, the most intense and primitive emotion.”
“Panic at the disarray of a historic party whose electorate has split off to the centre and to the right.”
But Casado’s harsh rhetoric contrasts sharply with his friendly demeanour.
Pablo Iglesias, the leader of far-left party Podemos, gets along well with him despite their radically opposing views.
In a book on Spain he co-authored with a journalist, Iglesias wrote that Casado, whose son was born premature, was “empathetic” when his twins also came into the world too early.
“That’s always appreciated, especially when it’s authentic.”
When he was picked to head up the PP, beating the more moderate Soraya Saenz de Santamaria who had been Rajoy’s right-hand woman, Casado promised “regeneration” in a party plagued by corruption scandals.
He was soon involved in a degree scandal, however, which saw him admit he did not attend lectures to get a Masters in regional law, prompting accusations it was given as a “gift.”
The Supreme Court eventually dropped the case.
He has also been criticised for reiterating falsehoods during the campaign, which several left-wing dailies are busy debunking.
During a pre-election debate on Monday, Sanchez joked that Casado should be fitted with a “truth detector.”
“It’s kind of Donald Trump-like,” says Jose Pablo Ferrandiz of polling firm Metroscopia.
“We’re seeing post-truth, fake news, which he’s using a lot. I don’t think it’s giving him the electoral return he’s hoping for.”
Opinion polls show the PP losing a flood of lawmakers in the elections.
The key though is to see if Casado will still manage to get the necessary amount of parliamentary seats to form a majority with Ciudadanos and Vox.
Casado still believes he is doing the right thing at a difficult time.
“I think the line I’m setting is necessary,” he has said. -- AFP