José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero Minority parties (especially United Left, a communist party) criticized the decision, for they considered it an attempt to attract their own voters, who would rather ensure a defeat of the People's Party even at the expense of voting for an unfavorable party. Zapatero's slogan became "we deserve a better Spain", which was coupled with "Zapatero Presidente", or "(ZP)", which became a popular nickname of the then Spanish Prime Minister. During the campaign, Zapatero harshly criticized the People's Party for its management of the "Prestige" crisis, its attitude towards the invasion of Iraq and the high cost of housing. Mariano Rajoy,
Manuel Chaves González the PSOE, together with Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra and José Bono, who were also autonomous presidents. After the defeat of his party in the general election of 12 March 2000, after which Joaquín Almunia resigned as General Secretary of the party, Manuel took charge of the Political Commission. He organized the 35th Congress of the PSOE, which elected José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero as General Secretary. In April 2009, Prime Minister Zapatero designated Chaves as Third Vice President of the Government and Minister of Territorial Policy (the former Ministry of Public Administrations). Manuel Chaves González Manuel Chaves González (born 7 July