Bilbo 6/24/2005 , by Edu Lartzanguren
(This article was first published in Eurolang , an independent Brussels-based news agency)
Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ-PNV) candidate Juan Jose Ibarretxe won his third term as Lehendakari (President) of the Basque Autonomous Community yesterday (Thursday) by a narrow vote in the Parliament.
The pro-independence left group in the chamber gave him the two votes he needed to have the simple majority required on the second round, but the parliament members of EHAK (Communist Party of the Basque Lands) made clear that their vote, just two out of their nine representatives, was not to be taken as an endorsement for Ibarretxe’s candidacy. The vote reflected what is to be expected for the new political period: a government depending on EHAK votes, that is, the group that is seen as taking the political place, and presumably many votes, of Batasuna - the party banned by the Spanish Government.
“We are ready to help this government, but we demand specific measures for the Basque language”, said Xabier Mendiguren, head of Kontseilua, to Eurolang on Thursday.
Kontseilua is an umbrella organisation for groups working for the advancement of the Basque language. Kontseilua is afraid that Ibarretxe’s new government will just follow on the tracks of previous EAJ-PNV governments, and fail to raise to the challenges faced by the language in this “very important time”.
Ibarretxe got 34 votes, 32 from his own party, Eusko Alkartasuna (EA) and Ezker Batua (EB). The three parties formed a coalition that held the previous Basque Autonomous Community government. In addition, he got two votes from EHAK, the votes that made the difference.
Ibarretxe failed to become Lehendakari in the first vote on Wednesday as an absolute majority was needed. In the second vote, on Thursday, a simple majority was required, and EHAK’s two votes gave him the advantage over Francisco (Patxi) Lopez, the pro-Spanish PSE-EE candidate. Lopez gained the support of the Popular Party (PP) representatives.
Previous to the vote, EHAK had announced that no agreement had been made with Ibarretxe and that they would wait to listen to the nationalist candidate’s speech to decide whether to support him or not. Ibarretxe promised the Parliament that he will be launching all-party talks at the start of his legislative period, aiming to boost the peace process in the Basque Country. If it reaches consensus he would hold a referendum in this term. That was one of the main demands made by Batasuna and EHAK leaders.
The Ezker Abertzalea group (EHAK) in the parliament meanwhile applied a tactic already used by Batasuna on December 30th: dividing their votes. Two members of EHAK voted for Ibarretxe, and the other seven cast invalid votes as they wrote “demokrazia eta bakea” (democracy and peace) on their voting papers. “We wanted to open up a new opportunity”, said Nekane Erauskin spokeswoman of EHAK. She made it clear that those two votes did not mean that they were supporting Ibarretxe.
“We were really disappointed by the speeches of both candidates”, Mendiguren told Eurolang. The head of Kontseilua was in the Parliament to witness the vote. For Mendiguren, the speeches were “far too vague” and implied “no advancement” in regard to the policies that are being implemented today. Lopez’s speech even suggested that he would take a step backwards in the process of normalisation of the language. “We saw that future prospects were gloomy with both candidates”, said Mendiguren.
Mendiguren was happy to see that in the afternoon EAJ-PNV, EHAK and Aralar representatives backed the language explicitly. The EAJ-PNV spokesman, Joseba Egibar, made his whole speech in Basque. EHAK even mentioned the pact for the language that Kontseilua has been working on with parties and trade unions. “The pact is now on the Parliament’s agenda”, said Mendiguren.
The government coalition is dependent on EHAK votes, so observers think that the legislative period will be short. Mendiguren is, anyway, willing to help the new government, but demands specific measures to settle the language in the professional world, and fill the gaps in university and professional education. “Up to now all the emphasis has been put on the peace process and the language question has been somewhat neglected. It is time to turn the tide”.
Ibarretxe made no direct reference to the Plan bearing his name for greater autonomy but he has hinted at two points. His plan consists of some chief principles such as “territoriality” . This refers to the Basque Country’s seven provinces, with Navarre and the provinces in Iparralde deciding their degree of collaboration, the right of the Basques to self determination, as well as a series of articles developing those principles.
After the polls, in which he did not get the absolute majority he expected, political commentators speculate that he may be ready to drop the articles, but not the principles. There will be no discussion about his text, so in that sense the Plan is dead. But the alternative will have to be based in those principles, and in this sense the ideas that inspired Ibarretxe's Plan are very much alive. (Eurolang © 2005)
