Bold Departure

Suarez quits over party sniping

Cautious, guarded, deliberate -- with those sober qualities, Adolfo Suarez became Spain's first democratically elected Prime Minister in two generations.

Even many leftist politicians admired the personable, reformist technocrat for the way he presided successfully over the risky transition from the 40-year dictatorship of Francisco Franco to a democracy under his friend King Juan Carlos.

For all his accomplishments, though, Suarez failed in one democratic essential: he was unable to mold a coherent political party out of the disparate centrist and conservative groupings that made up his Union of the Democratic Center (U.C.D.). Last week, fed up with relentless sniping within his party, Suarez, 48, acted with uncharacteristic boldness and resigned his posts both as head of the government and party leader.

The only gratifying result of Suarez's resignation was that it successfully tested Spain's new constitutional machinery.

Within twelve hours, the U.C.D. nominated Deputy Prime Minister Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo, 54, as Suarez's successor.

Calvo-Sotelo, a former Common Market minister who is known to Western leaders, is regarded as a tough economic troubleshooter. His skills will be needed to make headway against the slowdown of Spain's economy, which has raised unemployment to 15%. But some U.C.D. dissidents were openly threatening to withhold their support from Calvo-Sotelo when the parliament votes on his confirmation on Feb 10. Such disunity could lead to a new coalition or force early elections that would bring Felipe Gonzales's Socialist Party into contention. Juan Carlos held consultations with all party leaders through the weekend, but remained intent on making his planned tour of the embattled Basque regions this week. If political uncertainty continues, however, he may be forced to curtail his trip to the U.S. next week.

Ironically, by resigning, Suarez may have made his most effective appeal yet to fellow coalition members to quit their constant infighting. In an emotional televised speech, Sudrez chastised U.C.D. critics and said that continued attacks on the government "could disorient public opinion, which approves the democratic system." As for his own term in office, the ex-Prime Minister said proudly: "I have governed for 4 1/2 years, and no one else has governed Spain democratically for that long in 150 years."

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