Facism Alive and Well in Spain!

national | miscellaneous | news report Saturday June 22, 2002 21:25 by John Aldridge - Basque football legend Donostia

Basque political party are banned.

The Spanish government in a disgraceful and shocking move has voted to ban the Basque political party Batasuna, who are the political wing of the ETA, just as Sinn Fein are viewed as the political wing of the PIRA. The Ghost of Franco is back to haunt us!

The Spanish government has voted to ban the Batasuna political party. The new law will let the government ban any political group deemed to "promote hatred, violence, or civil confrontation". The law will also make it illegal to challenge Spain's existing democratic institutions.

In a letter to Spain's premier, Jose Maria Aznar, the Bishops of the Basque Region’s 3 biggest cities, Vitoria, Bilbao, and Donostia/San Sebastian, have strongly criticised the move, saying that while "peace is incompatible with terrorism........it is wrong to create a climate where 'anything goes' in the fight against terrorism". Outraged by this insolence, Aznar has called on the Vatican to bring the Bishops to book. The Basque regional premier, Jose Ibarretxe, who belongs to the non-violent Basque National Party, accused Mr. Aznar of being unable to accept any ideas that differ from his own. However some prominent Basques, most notably, and predictably, the head of the Basque Employers' Organisation said he supported the bill.

In the last European Parliament elections in Spain, Batasuna got 20% of the votes, and in the last Regional Elections they received 10% of the votes. The new law will cut state funding to Batasuna, funding which all national and regional parties in Spain receive. After what has been described as ‘vigorous arm-twisting’ by the government, the Socialist opposition and the Nationalist coalition that runs Catalonia voted for the bill in Parliament. However the Basque Nationalists, along with the far left and the Galician nationalists, voted against.

This law is born out of Mr. Aznar's frustration after failing to silence Batasuna with other laws. On the 27th of May, Aznar was annoyed by a Supreme Court ruling that Arnaldo Otegi, Batasuna's leader had broken no law by shouting "Long live the Basque homeland and freedom!", thereby hailing ETA by its full name at a rally in the French Basque region. In 1999 the Constitutional Court ordered the government to release 22 members of Batasuna's top committee. They had been imprisoned because ETA members had appeared in a state funded television advertisement for the Batasuna Party.

This new bill is exactly the type of infringement on civil liberties we are being told we have to "sacrifice for the greater good!" after September 11th. September 11th was just the excuse needed to introduce this type of bill.. The bill is the direct result of the European Union’s declaration, after September 11th, on how it planned to deal with "Terrorism". Are we going to just sit back and allow this to happen? I truly hope not!

We need to protest NOW against the Spanish government. Jose Maria Aznar’s proposed Berlusconi-like labour reforms brought a national strike to Spain this weekend. Due to the feeling towards ETA in Spain however, and particularly after the events of yesterday and today, the issue of Batasuna’s banning may not receive the attention it deserves. This is all the more reason that we must act, and act NOW! Just think about it, what would be our reaction if Sinn Fein or The Progressive Unionist Party were banned. I dare say it would not go unnoticed! The exact date of the announcement is unclear, however it is expected before the end of the month. If I can find out I will post it here. If anyone has suggestions post them here.