Spain's Rajoy seeks to stay on as opposition chief

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MADRID, March 12 (AFP): Spain's conservative opposition leader said Tuesday he would seek to remain as the head of the Popular Party despite its second straight general election loss under his leadership over the weekend.
Mariano Rajoy said although Sunday's election has been lost to Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's Socialists, the PP has increased the number and percentage of votes won as well as its seats in parliament.
"I'm going to present myself for re-election at the party's next congress," he told reporters after his party met to discuss the results of the elections.
The PP's next congress had been scheduled for October 2008 but it would be brought forward to June, he said.
The PP captured 40.1 percent of the vote in Sunday's election, its second highest share of the vote ever, only surpassed when former leader Jose Maria Aznar won an absolute majority in 2000.