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In 2004, Rajoy, whose appointment as party leader by Aznar was accepted by the Popular Party's congress the previous September, was strongly tipped to win. But he lost amid voter outrage over the Madrid terror bombings by Islamic militants three days before the election. The massacre killed 191 people. Outgoing prime minister Aznar, Rajoy and their party had initially blamed Basque separatists and continued to do so even as evidence of Islamic involvement emerged. The party was devastated by the defeat, and Rajoy had to battle to keep it unified amid divisions between moderate and more conservative factions. The 2008 loss, although not as severe, exacerbated his tenuous position, thrusting even normally friendly rightist media against him. But Rajoy fought on, skillfully remaining silent while his party and the media were ablaze with the succession debate. His eventual election victory over the Socialists has been seen as a tribute to his dogged determination to survive. When he was in opposition, Rajoy was known to thrive on ambiguity
-- rarely revealing what he thought. And, once in power, he has kept official statements to a minimum as a tide of bad economic news rose to overwhelm him. Rajoy has blamed Spain's woes on the previous Socialist administration of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. "Last year Spain's public administration spent euro90 billion more than it took in, this can't be maintained, we can't live like that," Rajoy told reporters. After his press conference on Sunday, Rajoy defended his decision to jet off to Poland to see Spain's famed national football team take on Italy in the Euro 2012 competition. "I'll be there 2 1/2 hours and then I'll leave," Rajoy said. "I think the national team deserves it."
[Associated
Press;
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