Basque nationalists win parliamentary elections
By Monica
Somocurcio
Amid chants of "Independence, independence" and "Madrid is
burning!" followers of the bourgeois Basque Nationalist Party
(PNV) celebrated victory over a Spanish-sponsored opposition
in parliamentary elections on May 13.
The Basque country lies along the Bay of Biscay, west of
the Pyrenees Mountains. For centuries it has been divided
between Spain and France. Most Basques live in three
autonomous Spanish provinces, but over 130,000 Basques also
live in southwestern France. The Basques speak their own
distinct language that is unrelated to any other languages in
Europe.
Spain's governing party--the right-wing Popular Party--and
the anti-sovereignty Spanish Socialist Party blocked together
in the election in an attempt to defeat the Nationalists.
These parties, which stand for union with Spain, claimed
repeatedly that a vote for the moderate PNV was in reality a
vote for the national liberation organization Euskadi ta
Askatasuna, or ETA, which stands for Basque Homeland and
Freedom.
This did not frighten the Basque people, who voted in
record numbers against the unionists and for the mainstream
nationalist option, the PNV, giving it 33 seats in parliament
and winning 43 percent of the vote.
A more left-wing movement, represented by the coalition
Euskal Herritarrok (EH), lost seven seats from the 14 it had
held since the last elections in 1998. Euskal Herritarrok's
spokesperson Arnaldo Otegi nonetheless called for
"celebration that this part of our country has clearly
defeated Spanish unionism.
"Thousands of independentistas," Otegi continued, "clearly
believed that the only option-the most efficient option-to
stop the pro-Spanish campaign of fear throughout this
election was to vote for the PNV in order to defeat
unionism."
In spite of its decline since the last election, the
leftist coalition still received 143,000 votes, or 12
percent. While the mainstream press and the Spanish
government credit this to ETA's military campaign, the
fundamental issue in the election was not ETA. It was whether
the pro-Spanish parties would defeat Basque nationalism. This
challenge to self-determination was answered and rejected by
the large nationalist vote.
The PNV still needs to ally itself with one or more of the
other parties to form a majority government. Juan Jose
Ibarretxe, PNV leader and soon to be "lehendakari" or head of
the Basque autonomous region, stated that he will not deal
with Euskal Herritarrok. This, however, remains to be seen.
The PNV will have to ally itself with either EH or the
pro-Spanish parties.
The open anti-sovereignty and sweeping anti-nationalist
approach the Spanish government took during these elections
reflects the current government's campaign of terror against
all pro-independence and progressive forces in the Basque
country.
Haika, the first Basque youth organization of a national
character, was banned by the Spanish courts earlier this
month. Haika is accused of being an ETA front and a
recruiting organization for the armed liberation movement. It
is also accused of taking part in "kale borroka" or street
fighting against forces of the state. Haika has 20,000
members and played a key role in organizing a massive general
strike of 450,000 people for independence on April 10.
Haika issued a statement that read in part: "Euskal Herria
[the Basque Country], if it will ever live together as a
people, has only one road to take, that of independence and
socialism. This is the same road that the Basque youth have
defended and have fought for since the last century.
"The Basque youth have never been cowards, and we are
completely confident that, without Haika, they will continue
to organize their desire to fight and will respond to all the
Spanish and French attacks."
Haika joins militant organizations such as ETA, Herri
Batasuna, KAS, Ekin and many others in the underground. Being
a member of these banned organizations carries a penalty of
severe punishment and jail.
Currently, hundreds of Basques are political prisoners in
Spain and France. The Spanish government is carrying out an
all-out campaign of terror against nationalists. In the
Basque elections it promoted the candidacy of Spain's
interior minister, who is a long-time ETA persecutor. This is
why the election results were a blow to Spain and a boost to
nationalist sentiment.
While the Basque left suffered an electoral defeat, it has
shown its muscle time and again in powerful mass actions.
Whether the bourgeois PNV will be able to carry out the
Basque people's clear sentiment for independence is far from
certain. Already it is under tremendous pressure to join the
anti-ETA and anti-leftist chorus.
The coming period will see a struggle over whether the
clear independence sentiment of the Basque masses, as
demonstrated in the elections, can be channeled into an
effective fighting force based on a socialist program or
whether it will be muzzled by bourgeois nationalists anxious
to accommodate themselves to the ruling classes in Madrid and
Paris.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Subscribe wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net
Support independent news http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php)
HOME
:: U.S. NEWS ::
WORLD NEWS ::
EDITORIALS
:: SUBSCRIBE ::
DONATE
Email
this article
Printable
page