Adolfo Suárez González

(b. Cebreros, Avila, 25 Sept. 1932) Spanish; Prime Minister 1976 – 81 Widely seen as one of the principal architects of Spain's post-Franco transition to democracy, Adolfo Suárez first achieved political prominence as vice-secretary-general (1961 – 4) of the dictatorship's National Movement. Educated at the University of Madrid, from where he received a doctorate in law, he subsequently became director-general of the national broadcasting network (1965 – 73), before being appointed director of the National Movement on Franco's death in 1975. A few months later, in July 1976, he was picked by King Juan Carlos to replace the Francoist loyalist Carlos Arias Navarro as Prime Minister. The move was greeted with considerable surprise, but turned out to be an inspired choice as Suárez set about dismantling the Franco dictatorship through a series of bold and imaginative initiatives. In particular, his Political Reform Law of November 1976 entailed the Francoist parliament voting itself out of existence and paved the way for free elections in June 1977, the first to be held in Spain in more than forty years.

His negotiating skills, allied to a telegenic image, helped ensure that he emerged victorious in the elections at the head of the Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD), a broad coalition of non-socialist forces, many of which had been associated with reformist elements within the Franco regime. As premier, Suárez steered through the 1978 constitution, a masterpiece of political compromise which laid the institutional foundations of Spain's successful transition to democracy. However, the constitutional settlement proved to be Suárez's political high point. Re-elected in 1979, he found it increasingly difficult to hold together the various strands which made up the UCD: once the goal of constitutional design had been achieved, increasingly bitter in-fighting developed within the party.

Although an accomplished negotiator face to face, Suárez was uncomfortable in parliamentary debates and came to avoid them, often going months without attending parliament, and even missing Cabinet meetings. Growing disillusionment with factionalism within the UCD led to his resignation as Prime Minister in January 1981. Soon after he left the UCD and set up a new party, the Democratic and Social Centre (CDS), to contest the 1982 general elections. In its first five years, the CDS tried to carve out a distinctive centre-left identity, then allied in municipal elections with the right-wing opposition against the now ruling Socialist Party, before claiming to stand to the left of the Socialists at the 1987 European elections. In 1990, Suárez — who had been elected a year earlier as president of the Liberal and Progressive International — entered an informal pact with the Socialist government, before resigning as party leader two years later and abandoning politics altogther. His descent into political obscurity was as unexpected as it was rapid, yet his contribution to the establishment of democracy in Spain remains extraordinary.