Zapatero unlikely to grasp reins of power before Easter

By ELIZABETH NASH in Madrid

Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, despite heading the party elected by most Spaniards, is unlikely to grasp the reins of power in Spain before Easter.

He is unable to announce any government initiative until he has been formally invested by both houses of parliament.

But the ministers of the defeated government of outgoing prime minister Jose Maria Aznar, who implemented policies so devastatingly spurned by Spanish voters on Sunday, meanwhile remain in office.

Angel Acebes, who proclaimed against all evidence that Eta Basque separatists were responsible for Thursdays bomb blasts, continues as acting Interior Minister. Ana Palacio, who instructed Spain's ambassadors to take every opportunity to blame Eta, is still running foreign affairs. And Federico Trillo, who sent Spain's troops to war, is still at Defence.

So respectful, however, are Spanish politicians of their carefully wrought democratic constitution, that there is no question of Mr Aznars lame-duck ministers trying to wield backdoor influence.

"They can only carry out administrative functions. They cannot take any political initiative," says Camilo Valdecantos, parliamentary correspondent of El Pais newspaper.

This painfully drawn out process is supposed to guarantee the legitimacy of the handover, to ensure all the procedures are correctly followed and to ensure stability. Mr Valdecantos says. But such a protracted interregnum can be destabilising.

It was during the uncertain month between the resignation of Adolfo Suarez in 1981 and the swearing-in of his successor, Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo, that lieutenant Antonio Tejero burst into parliament and attempted a fascist coup.

No one expects anything like that today. Rather the ponderous handover is designed to banish brusque political changes that Spaniards associate with coup attempts.

Spains new parliament formally convenes on 2 April, after polling results have been legally endorsed and each new MP has been formally accredited.

King Juan Carlos then holds conversations with the leader of every party with parliamentary representation - a process likely to last several days. Only then will parliament convene to elect its president, who will be prime minister of Spain.

- INDEPENDENT