Why Ciudadanos’ Albert Rivera is the candidate best placed to oust Mariano Rajoy as Spanish PM

Spain will hold a general election on 20 December 2015, with opinion polls indicating a tight contest between four parties for the largest share of the vote – the governing People’s Party (PP), who have a small lead in most polls, the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), Ciudadanos (C’s), and Podemos.

To mark the election, EUROPP is running a series of articles examining each of the four parties and their campaigns ahead of the vote. In the first article of the series, Jose Javier Olivas assesses the campaign run by Ciudadanos, arguing that the party’s leader, Albert Rivera, is better placed than the leaders of the PSOE and Podemos to replace Mariano Rajoy as Spain’s Prime Minister.

• Primary Source

ESO: Key Source: Spanish general election, 2015 http://www.europeansources.info/record/spanish-general-election-2015/

Website: Ciudadanos https://www.ciudadanos-cs.org/

ESO: Background information: Ciudadanos: the ‘tortoise’ that may beat the ‘hare’ in the race for political reform in Spain http://www.europeansources.info/record/ciudadanos-the-tortoise-that-may-beat-the-hare-in-the-race-for-political-reform-in-spain/

Wikipedia: Citizens (Spanish political party) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_%28Spanish_political_party%29

Politico, 11.12.15: Forum: The meaning of Ciudadanos http://www.politico.eu/article/the-meaning-of-ciudadanos-spain-general-elections-albert-rivera/

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