Basque election day.

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Sunday April 17, 2005 10:55

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1,800,000 voters to decide today on distribution of 75 seats.

Seven main parties will be competing for seats in the Basque Autonomous Community Parliament.

coverage of the elections in english starts today-

1,799,500 people in Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa have been called to cast their ballots. They will decide, among other things, who the incumbent of the Ajuria Enea Palace [official residence of the Lehendakari or president of the BAC-Basque Autonomous Community] will be for the next four years.

(Lehendakari is basque for Taoiseach)
the Basque Autonomous Community (BAC, in Basque EAE, and in Spanish CAV or CAPV) only includes the provinces of Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa of the Southern Basque Country (under Spanish jurisdiction). It has been in existence since 1979 when the currrent Statute of Autonomy or Statute of Gernika was passed.

According to the surveys, there will be no significant change as far as the Lehendakari is concerned. If there is any change, it will affect the parties that depend on a single seat. The UA [Unidad Alavesa. A political party acting exclusively in Araba (Alava)], one of the provinces in the Basque Autonomous Community.
It is right of centre and opposed to Basque nationalism.could lose its only seat and Aralar 8During the process to reorganise the Basque nationalist left (which culminated in the forming of Batasuna in 2001) certain people disagreed with the course the process was taking and set themselves up as a separate political party on June 22, 2002 and adopted the name Aralar. The party regards itself as democratic, left-wing, socialist (rather than social democrat) and pro-independence, i.e. in favour of a federal republic of the seven provinces of the Basque Country (Araba, Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa, Lapurdi, Lower Navarre, Navarre, and Zuberoa), as long as this is in accordance with the wishes of the inhabitants of each province. It gives priority to political activity and in no way subscribes to the use of armed action to achieve political aims)- has a chance of winning one.

This will be decided today.

2,689 ballot boxes will be ready to collect the votes at the 725 polling stations that are set to open at 09.00. Turnout will have to be very high to beat that of four years ago. At nearly 80% turnout was very high in 2001. There were also many postal votes. This time there have been fewer. There has been a 30% drop in requests for postal votes compared with 2001. The deadline for postal votes ended on Wednesday, but the electoral commission extended it until Friday.

The Basque nationalist left has sparked off the most curiosity during the campaign. The question was whether or not it would be able to stand in the elections. As it could not stand in the municipal and provincial elections, or in the elections to the Spanish Parliament, or in the European elections, there were doubts as to whether the situation would be the same now or not.

Three sets of candidates were in fact presented. The first was Batasuna’s, but it was rejected by the electoral commission, on the grounds that it did not figure in the electoral roll of parties.

note on Batasuna / "HB" :-
left-wing, Basque nationalist political party outlawed in the Southern Basque Country (under Spanish administration)since August 2002 for ites to ETA. From 1978 to 1998 it was called Herri Batasuna (Unity of the People), and from 1998 to 2001 it took the name Euskal Herritarrok (We Basque Citizens). In the Parliament of the Basque Autonomous Community of Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa it won 7 out of the 75 seats (10.12% of the votes) in the 2001 elections. In March 2000 it did not stand in the elections to the Spanish Parliament. It had one member in the European Parliament, who was in the “non-attached” group, until 2004.

The second was Aukera Guztiak, Platform or initiative set up on February 26, 2005 to back an Association of Electors with a view to fielding candidates in the April 2005 elections to the Parliament of the Basque Autonomous Community. Its aim: to promote civil and political rights by enabling every citizen in Araba, Gizpuzkoa and Bizkaia to have the chance to register his or her choice in the ballot box. It has been promoted by a number of well-known figures, who represent a variety of ideologies, from the fields of culture and Basque cultural activity. which was created by a new association of electors to give the voters of the Basque nationalist left an opportunity to cast their ballots; but it failed to get through the filter of the Spanish Judiciary and was annulled.

So thousands of voters once again found themselves in the same predicament as in the last three elections. But when the campaign was about to start, Aukera Guztiak called together the parties. It appealed to them to drop their election manifestos and support civil and political rights. The EHAK-Euskal Herrialdeetako Alderdi Komunista (Communist Party of the Basque Lands) responded to the request made by Aukera Guztiak, and has been immersed in the campaign ever since and is fielding the AG candidates.

Since then the EHAK has been under the watchful eye of the Spanish Judiciary and the PP. Although the PP has been continually requesting the Spanish Government to start outlawing it, the Spanish Justice Minister, Juan Fernando Lopez-Aguilar, has said there is no proof.
= There are no clear links between the Basque communist party (EHAK) and ETA.

(note on PP - Partido Popular: Popular Party. It was set up in 1989 as a result of the natural development of “Alianza Popular” (founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne after the death of Franco) joined by other centre-right parties. Ideologically reformist, and close to the European liberal tradition and Christian humanism. It came to power in Madrid in 1996 with Jose Maria Aznar as Prime Minister. In the March 14, 2004, General Elections the PP lost to the Socialist Party when it secured only 148 seats out of 350 in the Spanish Lower House with 37.64% of the votes. It controls many Autonomous Communities, Provincial Councils and City Councils of Spain. It has 27 members in the European Parliament in the PPE-DE group. It is present in the Southern Basque Country, too, as the PP in the Basque Autonomous Community (of Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa) and as the UPN in Navarre.)

All the other parties have been heavily engaged in the campaign. They have concentrated their strength on the need for peace and the messages of most of them have been along those lines.

*******************************************************

Most polls indicated a return to government for the Lehandakari and his "tripartite" coalition. He seeks a "nationalist" mandate to support his plans for further autonomy and independence. His proposals are complex, and include a referendum and further definition of the basque as a "nation" rather than just "autonomous community" and the further development of a "state". The basque at present has tax raising powers but is an integral part of the Spanish state under the constitution.
Opposing this "pan-basque nationalist plan" are the party of central government the PSOE (of Zapatero) and the PP (and the Basque region euivalents of those two parties). These are the political expression of the "pan-spanish front" and count on (or act for) considerable sections of the spanish "estates" including the military, and considerable business interests.

Smaller parties and local afiliates have differing stances.
The left party (reformed marxist) in the central government IU voted against the Lehandakari's plans in the Madrid assembly, but in favour of them in the Basque assembly.
The ruling tripartite of neighbouring Catalonia (itself made of the "green" version of IU, the local PSOE and catalan republican party) has expressed its support for the Lehandakari.

This election won't end or begin anything.

Everything has begun already, and we only know if things have ended if a generation grows up on both sides of the divide which is
the pan-spanish nationalist question
and
the pan-basque-nationalist question
without violence or nastyness anymore.

Which might sound really simplistic, but hey it sometimes is really simplistic.

background articles on this political process -

last night final campaigning-
http://www.berria.info/english/ikusi.php?id=1371
peace promises (most parties hope for peace soon)
http://www.berria.info/english/ikusi.php?id=1377

coverage will update in the english language at this basque news site-
http://www.berria.info/english/

Above explanatory text C&P-ed from
http://www.berria.info/english/ikusi.php?id=1380
with a wee bit of padding at the end.

save preference

Comments (9 of 9)

it is customary on indymedia ireland

by kaixo!

Sun Apr 17, 2005 11:16

whenever the word "basque" is mentioned for commentators and political activists to jump to the qwerty and type the same words again & again.

So here they are-

The Basques are ancient.
The basques have a beautiful language.
The basques are sexy and mountainous.
The basques have very good food.
The basques are mysterious & misunderstood.
The basques are good writers and sailors.
The basques have a very violent history.
The basques are really just like the Irish.
The basques are really really different.

You could also try substituting "spanish" for basque and be "balanced" - The spanish are ancient, have a beautiful language, are sexy and mountainous, have very good food, are mysterious & misunderstood, are good writers & sailors, have a very violent history and really are just like the Irish, and the spanish are really really different.

As always there will be "how did the basques vote and not vote" article after the election -

Links to more ongoing coverage in castillian.

by Newton

Sun Apr 17, 2005 12:37

"from the big family".
(we're all brothers and sisters, anyone ever tell you that? all ancient, all sexy, all with good food, all with sailors and mountains, the poor dutch got a bit sorely done on the mountains and food but hey relatively speaking they did well on the height and beautiful language thing, we're all really really different, we're all really really really like the Irish with their milky coffee continental style bars, and we're all unique and individuals, and we're all pope.)

the rainbow an agreement for peace which knows no borders

Mid-day report- A huge swing to the anarchist and non-voters.

Sun Apr 17, 2005 17:15

at mid-day only 17% average had bothered to vote.
the province with the highest vote is the most left-nationalist with 20% bothering to vote.
There are many reasons for this,-
* voting won't get Aznar out so doesn't have the appeal it had a little over a year ago,
you don't get an inky thumb, no matter who you vote for * the government get elected, & people all over the world, are copping on, that the government is made up of silly scallywags who steal other peoples' slogans, despite never really seeming to "earn their pay cheque or second non taxed holiday home".
* its a very sunny day, and as everyone knows in commercial media land, "voter apathy" is highest on very wet days, cloudy overcast days, absolute scorcher days, bit of frost clearing later days, and same as yesterday with scattered outbreaks of sun days.

If these "crucial elections" are to carry any semblance of the legitimacy that the ruling class insists on further afield like -Africa, then about one million basques have to go and vote by 8pm local time.

Early evening report - Big swing to State Media.

Sun Apr 17, 2005 19:19

the attendance at 5pm local time was 49%.
so there. would you feck off with your discrediting shit this is serious. Politicians are thanking the 49% for having participated in these crucial elections and voting for peace. It is expected that in the final hours that essential 2% more will vote thus bringing today's historic poll into the legitimacy percentages.
Commercial media commentators will no doubt blame the patches of dull weather which broke through around siesta (i'm sorry i don't know the basque language word for siesta) time.
& who could not be moved by the story of an old man (81 years) who went to vote with his son, voted in Vitoria and then dropped dead.
Meanwhile the spokeswoman of the EHAK (the little commie party that is helping out the banned political lists) has said "don't be intimidated, don't be scared come out and vote!"
Sure it won't kill you.
All sounds tippy toppy.
tell you all about it tomorrow.
(if its not too sunny)

1hour after closing :- swing to the consultation opinion polls

by q

Sun Apr 17, 2005 21:26

Demoscopia forAntena 3 (basqueTV) and Onda Cero (radio) and Ipsos-Ecoconsulting for RTVE (spanish rté) indicate that the party of the Lehandakari has not won an absolute majority has slipped a little and the tripartite will continue. The little commies won 7-8 seats. In some parts of the Basque which celebrated its election today, as much as 45% of people do not engage in political conversation. 3 of the provinces which went to the urns today are dominated in political representation by factions and traditions as opposed to each other as West is to East Belfast.
**** (read the cyprus article to get a grip on this flow of conscience next bit - or don't bother)

I can't comment anymore, I'm thinking about toys which were dropped in no-mans land. I'm thinking about a kid who became a soldier coz his dad was one before. I'm thinking about the night i was hungry and i got a loaf of bread "from her indoors" (the mrs) and tin of corned beef and some beans. I'm thinking about the photo fo the son on the mantlepiece who became a solider coz his dad and grand-dad were ones before. I'm thinking about the lad named James of the same regiment who served months of prison for painting the statue of Winston Churchill in westminister square with "freedom to the Kurds, end the Turkish occupation". I'm thinking about how people are made, how people come to terms with what they think they must do because their ma and their da and their grand-da did before them. I'm thinking how many people who say "enough" have to go to prison for writing the truth on the walls. I'm thinking when will those toys be picked up from no-mans land? I'm thinking when does some man or woman go on TV or in the paper and say "I know, I understand what prison is about, I understand what war is about, I understand what being shitty poor and optionless is about just like my da and my grand-da before. I'm thinking about the wait. I'n thinking about why I don't have a TV. I'm thinking about how I didn't eat the corned beef coz I thought it was unhealthy. I'm thinking about the way he cried. I'm thinking his redemption is as important as any white pope. I'm thinking after a storm you see a rainbow. I'm thinking someday. We give each other loaves of bread, buy the pint, give them food and don't cry. I'm thinking we forgive each other. I'm thinking this is more important than any white pope or any ministry of justice.

basque elections;please update results

by mms

Sun Apr 17, 2005 22:35

How is possible that there is no update in this country about the results of the basque elections ??? unbelievable!
Please .see latest results ( 98.9% votes counted)

see final results

PNV-EA 29
EHAK-9
PSOE 18
pp 15
IU 3
Aralar 1

article on www.ireland.com
Basque vote tests plan for near-independence
Last updated: 17-04-05, 17:43

Basques voted in parliamentary elections today in a test of voter sentiment about a plan for virtual independence from Spain.

The restive region of Spain, split between Basque nationalists seeking greater autonomy from Madrid and Spaniards who support territorial unity, will choose a new 75-member parliament.

The vote will indirectly measure support for Basque premier Juan Jose Ibarretxe's plan for virtual independence, a proposal he says will help end political violence but one that Madrid calls a violation of Spain's constitution.

Mr Ibarretxe's plan calls for a status of "free association" that would grant the Basque Country more control over taxation, the courts and its foreign relations, but stops short of a complete break with Spain.

The radical pro-independence party Batasuna was stricken from the ballot and banned as the political wing of ETA, Western Europe's most active guerrilla group.

Batasuna, which won 10 per cent of the vote in 2001, has thrown its support behind the Communist Party of the Basque Lands, a tiny, 3-year-old group hoping to capture some of the seven seats that Batasuna won four years ago.

Radicals make big gains in Basque elections

Mon Apr 18, 2005 10:55

this is was it has been published so far in Irish media about the Basque elections

Radicals make big gains in Basque elections
Last updated: 18-04-05, 07:18

A newly-formed communist party in the Basque region has made large gains in yesterday's elections following an endorsement from the banned political party, Batastuna which is the political mouthpiece of militant Basque separatist group Eta.

The ruling nationalist party won the election, but in a blow to their hopes for their plan on autonomy, they failed to win an absolute majority.

Basque Premier Juan Jose Ibarretxe emerged weakened in yesterday's vote for the regional parliament as radical separatists put in a stunning performance that could give them sway over the next government.

Ibarretxe and his moderate Basque Nationalist Party had been seeking endorsement of their plan for near independence from Spain but instead lost four of their 33 seats in the 75-member legislature, threatening the party's 25-year grip on power.

Meanwhile, the Communist Party of the Basque Lands came in a surprisingly strong fourth place after it was given the backing of Batasuna, a party banned as the political wing of armed separatists ETA.

That development was decried by the right-of-centre Popular Party as giving ETA, classed as a terrorist group by Spain and the European Union, representation in parliament.

"ETA for the first time was not going to be in the Basque parliament and now it has increased its number of members from seven to nine and, what's more, has become the arbiter of the situation," former Interior Minister Angel Acebes said.

He blamed Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero for not trying to ban the communists after they won the endorsement of Batasuna.

Results showed the restive region still about evenly split between Basque nationalists seeking greater autonomy from Madrid and Spaniards who support territorial unity.

But the pro-Spanish parties picked up one potentially crucial seat from the nationalists.

Ibarretxe could muster a minority government with 33 seats and no immediate prospects for an absolute majority of 38 unless the communists came to his aid.

"We have won the elections," Ibarretxe told cheering supporters, denying the result was "bittersweet".

"The game has gotten a little complicated but we are going to win," Ibarretxe said.

Meanwhile the Spanish parties -- the Socialists and the right-of-centre Popular Party -- also have 33 seats between them. Though they are fierce rivals across Spain, the Socialists and the Popular Party have talked about teaming up in the Basque Country if it meant unseating Ibarretxe's PNV.

"It may not be today, but in the short term we could see the Socialists governing. No matter what happens it won't be boring," said Gorka Knorr, a former member of parliament for PNV coalition partner Eusko Alkartasuna.

In the hotly contested battle for second place among the two big Madrid-based parties, the ruling Socialists overtook the Popular Party to reverse the PP's rising trend in the Basque Country and set themselves up as the non-nationalist option.

The Communist Party of the Basque Lands, virtually unheard of until winning the backing of Batasuna just nine days ago, outperformed Batasuna's results from the 2001 election.

The communists have the option of lending badly needed support to Ibarretxe as he tries to form a government.

Ibarretxe called the vote a month early after the Spanish parliament rejected his plan for a status of "free association" that would grant the Basque Country more control over taxation, the courts and its foreign relations, but stop short of a complete break with Spain.

The loss of seats undermines Ibarretxe's ambitions for the plan.

The election campaign has been free of violence by ETA, still the most active guerrilla group in Western Europe and responsible for more than 800 killings since 1968 to press its demands for Basque independence.

last comment was C&P of syndicated Reuters paragraph.

Mon Apr 18, 2005 11:12

as is customary a post election article-
"how the basques voted and note voted"
will appear shortly.

how the basques voted and not voted

Mon Apr 18, 2005 12:04

http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=69442

"....do you suppose we have to share the megaphone now?"

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Basque election day.

Comments (9 of 9)