SPAIN: Spain's new cabinet was sworn in less than a week ago in a major reshuffle. The new ministers and those changing portfolios have hardly had time to find their new offices and read their papers, before taking their seats on the front benches yesterday for the state of the nation debate.
For some of them it was their first time in the lower house of the Cortes and they had some difficulty deciding which blue leather seat was theirs.
For Prime Minister Mr José María Aznar it is his ninth state of the nation debate - four as leader of the opposition and his fifth as prime minister. He spoke for an hour in his opening address in which he reviewed the achievements of his government over the past 12 months and laid down his plans for the next parliamentary year.
Mr Aznar is an uninspiring speaker, but his words were interrupted on several occasions by applause from his own side and jeers from the opposition.
He said he was always open for dialogue with unions and employers, but made no promise of withdrawing the controversial labour law, which paralysed the country in a general strike last month. He stressed that the fight against ETA would be his top priority and he welcomed the co-operation Spain has received from France and other countries.
The problem of public security is another growing problem and Mr Aznar promised to introduce a new Plan against Crime and Delinquency. Some cities have reported that the majority of crimes are committed by immigrants and Mr Aznar stressed that immigrants should obey the laws like all citizens.
Mr José Luis Zapatero, the secretary general of the Socialist party and leader of the opposition, took advantage of his right to reply to criticise the Popular Party (PP) government. He described the last two years of the government as "a failure".He too spoke of the growing problem of delinquency and called for 7,000 new police officers. He demanded labour reform as he claimed the current situation penalises temporary employment and increases unemployment. Spain's current l.5 million unemployed (8.64 per cent) is the highest in Europe.
The second session of the debate will continue later today when leaders of smaller parties will present their views. For the first time Mr Aznar cannot count on the across the board support from the Catalan nationalists who will only vote in his favour on some of the measures.