Today Spain held parliamentary elections, while Russia held presidential elections.

In Spain, a massive surge in turnout unseated the Partido Popular, the conservative party founded by the supporters of dictator Francisco Franco. The Socialists won a plurality but will have to seek coalition partners to reach a majority in the 350 member parliament. The conservative regional parties and the ex-communists also suffered, while left wing regional parties surged; full results below.

The outcome was seen as a strong statement by voters in opposition to the government's participation in the War on Iraq and the terrorist blowback in Madrid last week. Last year around 90% of Spaniards opposed the war. The Socialists opposed the war but support violent internal repression of Basque nationalists seeking independence, calling them "terrorists."

In Russia, President Vladimir Putin won 69% of the vote, with three other nationalist candidates receiving about 24%. Barely 7% voted for the sole candidate calling for more economic "reforms" and closer cooperation with the United States.

While the Western media has criticized Putin for sidelining pro-Western forces in the government and business, it is believed that the underlying reason for American and British concern is the revival of an autonomous Russian foreign policy. With the Russian economy growing strongly due to political stability and rising oil prices, Russia has substantially increased its military spending for the first time since the destruction of the Soviet Union. Putin has continued the authoritarian internal political policies of Boris Yeltsin, which did not bother the West in the

past.

Intriguingly, Secretary of State Colin Powell made the most interesting comment of the day:

"Russians have to understand that to have full democracy of the kind that the international community will recognize, you've got to let candidates have all access to the media that the president has," Powell said on "Fox News Sunday."

Let's see if Powell says that about the presidential elections back here in America too.

Spain's election results (99.91% of the vote counted):

PARTY ABBREV VOTES % SEATS

Socialists PSOE 10.901.621 42,64 164

Conservatives PP 9.622.673 37,64 148

Right Catalonia CiU 829.046 3,24 10

Left Catalonia ERC 649.999 2,54 8

Basque National EAJ-PNV 417.154 1,63 7

Ex-Communist IU 1.269.041 4,96 5

http://www.elec_gen04.mir.es/congreso/CGF_TOP.htm