SPAIN: It is a rare for a Spanish cabinet reshuffle to take place without weeks, even months, of rumours and gossip. But prime minister José Luis Rodriquez Zapatero took the country - and possibly some of those involved - by surprise yesterday when he announced three important changes to his cabinet.
As he passed the halfway point in his four-year term, Mr Zapatero said he had accepted the resignation of defence minister José Bono, and would be replacing him with current interior minister José Antonio Alonso.
Mr Alonso will in turn be replaced by the government's parliamentary spokesman, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba. The post of minister of education, until yesterday held by María Jesus San Segundo, will go to Mercedes Cabrera, president of the parliamentary education committee and niece of the former prime minister Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo.
The resignation Mr Bono, one of the most charismatic but often undiplomatically outspoken members of the cabinet, is probably the most significant. Mr Zapatero said Mr Bono was leaving the government at his own request "for personal reasons" and he hoped that it would only be a temporary withdrawal from public life.
But although Mr Bono has taken giant steps in modernising the Spanish armed forces, his term in office has been marked by controversy. One of his first tasks, only days after taking office, was to oversee the withdrawal of Spanish troops from Iraq. He reopened the inquiry into the crash of the Yak military aircraft that crashed in Turkey in 2003, killing 62 Spanish troops returning from Afghanistan, and replaced top military brass for their mishandling of the tragedy.
Early this year he summarily dismissed a senior general who had warned that the military would be prepared to intervene if the unity of the state was threatened by granting greater autonomy to the regions.
But Mr Bono was not always in full accord with Mr Zapatero. He is known to be uncomfortable with the government's policy to give Catalonia increased self-government. He is also believed to be unhappy with the decision to enter negotiations with Eta.
The crucial post of interior minister will go to a loyal Zapatero supporter, Alfredo Rublacaba (54), a shrewd negotiator. He will oversee the Eta talks.