Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Sunday his decision not to run in the next general elections would shift the opposition's focus from attacking him to more widely discussed economic and social issues.
He said the decision announced Saturday will force a change in the tactics of the opposition Popular Party (PP).
"Yesterday's decision will be very useful for the PP, because now they will have to work on a political project, because until now all that
they have known what to do is to attack me and attack me," Zapatero said at a meeting in Murcia ahead of May's local and regional elections.
Zapatero said his decision would also change the focus of the Congress' political debate from personal criticism of him to a deeper discussion of economic and social issues.
"Every Wednesday (in the weekly debate in the Spanish Congress) the fault is Zapatero's and no one cares whether it is a tsunami that has
happened or what is happening in the Arab World at the moment," said Zapatero.
Zapatero, who is in his second term as prime minister, said Saturday that he wouldn't be the candidate for the ruling Socialist Party (PSOE) in the next general elections, scheduled for March 2012.
Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba and Defense Minister Carme Chacon are seen as frontrunners to succeed him.
The prime minister was confident the social and economic reforms that his government has carried out in recent months will lead to Spain's economic recovery.
"We have carried out the necessary reforms, which, although they are creating problems and difficulties, will be the guarantee of growth
for tomorrow. Everyone knows the only thing that I care about is that Spain works, that we have a competitive economy, that we create jobs and that we are able to guarantee the Welfare State," Zapatero said.