The Spanish prime minister, Mr Jose Maria Aznar, will today ask King Juan Carlos to dissolve parliament, so that general elections can be held on March 12th.
Opinion polls suggest Mr Aznar's conservative Popular Party (PP) will win more seats this time around. This would mean he could dispense with the support of regional nationalists, who have propped up his minority government for close to a full four-year term.
e Maria Aznar - who will go to the Royal Palace later today (Monday) to ask King Juan Carlos to dissolve the parliament later today - is likely to win a second term in office with a wider majority more seats than he has his conservative Partido Popular enjoyed since took in 1996.
Far from the landslide victory the Partido Popular expected Four years ago the margin was uncomfortably narrow and Mr Aznar was has been forced to depend on the support of the regional parties, notably the Catalans and Canary Islands, and occasionally the Basques, for a parliamentary majority, but he is optimistic he will be able to change the trend this time around.
The PP's victory in 1996 was no surprise. After more than 13 years in power, the Socialist Party (PSOE) had been badly tainted by rampant corruption and allegations of cabinet involvement in a "dirty war" against ETA.
The outgoing prime minister, Mr Felipe Gonzalez, decided to step down, but his amiable successor, Mr Joaquin Almunia, lacks Mr Gonzalez's charisma, and has so far failed to bring back support. Mr Aznar's success in shedding his right-wing image and occupying the centre, where the Socialists used to dominate, limits Mr Almunia's options.
The key election issues are likely to be unemployment, terrorism, and controversial proposals to reform the 1978 Constitution from regional nationalists. The Socialists and the PP both broadly defend the constitutional status quo, but Mr Almunia has accused Mr Aznar of hypocrisy, since the prime minister was unenthusiastic about the constitution in his right-wing youth.
Mr Aznar has tried to take credit for the sharp drop in terrorist violence since ETA's 1998 ceasefire, but its collapse two months ago has brought him criticism for failing to advance the Basque peace process when he had the chance.
The PP also claims credit for today's relatively healthy economy, but the Socialists argue that it was their governments which laid the ground for today's growth and steadily falling unemployment. The electorate is unlikely to take this into account.