The elections campaign in Spain has been called off Friday by the Spanish politicians with only two days before the Sunday’s general elections, after an ex-legislator was shot dead in the town of Mondragon in the Basque region.

Socialist Isaias Carrasco, 42, was fatally shot outside his home in the above mentioned region at 1:30 pm local time, in front of his wife and daughter, AFP informs. He was immediately taken to hospital, but nothing could be done for him. The former councilor was not accompanied by his bodyguard when the assault took place Friday.

Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba blamed the separatist Basque group ETA for the “assassination.” The minister said that Carrasco was shot several times from behind. The perpetrator is still at large. Police are investigating the case.

“Early this afternoon ETA ... murdered Isaias Carrasco,” Perez Rubalcaba told a news conference. He expressed his indignation, saying that “This is a vile and cowardly act which deserves our total rejection. A vile and cowardly act by a band of murderers who are never going to conquer the will of Spanish democracy,” the Associated Press quotes.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and the conservative Popular Party agreed to halt the campaigning. They announced a meeting for late Friday in parliament “to express condemnation of all of society” to the attack, said the Socialist party in a statement.

Zapatero’s main rival, Mariano Rajoy has accused the Prime Minister for being too soft on ETA. ETA is classified by the United States, the European Union and Spain as a terrorist organization.

The government imposed increased security measure at the beginning of the election campaign two weeks ago. They said they were expecting ETA to stage more killings.

ETA is held responsible for more than 800 deaths. After agreeing to a permanent ceasefire in June 2006, ETA detonated a bomb in December 2006, at Madrid’s airport that killed two people. The ceasefire was called off in June 2007.