Banned Basque party gets 101,000 votes and exclusion of Basque Left-independists produces bizarre el

international | rights, freedoms and repression | news report

Wednesday March 11, 2009 13:59

by Cormac Mac Gall

Amid a wave of state repression against the Basque independence movement including the banning of its parties, the recent elections in the three south-western provinces of the Basque Country, the "Basque Autonomous Region", nevertheless resulted in 101,000 votes cast for the pro-independence Left. However, the exclusion of a significant section of the Basque nationalist spectrum, while not opposed by the conservative majority Basque nationalist party, looks like ending that party's tenure of power in the Basque Parliament.

Democracy 3 Million political platform for Basque independence and socialism at its founding press conference

The elections on March 1st in three of the four southern (i.e. Spanish-controlled) provinces of the Basque Country were a sham by bourgeois democratic standards. The pro-independence Left were prevented by the Spanish State from putting forward any candidates, which left the field to conservative Basque separatist and Spanish-union social democratic and conservative parties. Faced with such a choice, just over 34% of the electorate stayed at home.

The Spanish state has in recent years banned political parties of the pro-independence left, the izquierda abertzale, from standing in elections and, on occasion, has declared them illegal too. Two such parties were banned last year and another two just a few weeks before the election. Askatasuna (meaning 'freedom' in Euskara) was one and Democracy 3 Million the other. Eighteen prominent public figures in the areas of sport, music, language, trade unions and social work had come together to form D3M in order to stand in the elections due in March.

A clamour began from right-wing groups and media in Spain that they should not be permitted to stand. Spain's Law of Political Parties was invoked in order to ban both parties. Under this law, no party which supports terrorism can stand in elections and for the Spanish state it is sufficient that the parties do not condemn acts by ETA, the armed Basque resistance organisation. They also fine-comb through the list of citizen's signatures that are required by Spanish law in order to validate a party to stand in elections. A previous conviction among the signatories for an offence deemed to have been terrorist-related, no matter how many years ago, or even membership of a banned organisation, even though that may have been prior to its banning, can be sufficient to disqualify the party.

Ironically, just two weeks before the bans, a UN report had been published that criticised the application of precisely that piece of legislation. Martin Scheinin, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, pointed out that it can be used to ban any organisation which is working legally for similar aims to ETA (e.g. Basque independence, socialism and the strengthening of the Basque language and culture). The legislation even appeals to Israeli ultra-Zionists: Avigdor Leiberman, leader of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, which was successful in the recent Israeli elections, recently stated that he wants to bring a similar law into the Israeli state.

The Spanish state, presumably in order to neutralise opposition still further, declared D3M illegal, arrested eight of its leaders, raided its offices and took away equipment, then locked the offices and closed down its web-site. The pro-independence Left however declared that they would campaign for the party in the elections, banned or not.

Different web-sites and email were used to distribute ballot papers created by the movement, with the names of candidates of the banned party in each of the electoral areas on them. People were encouraged to print them off and use them as their “golden vote” on March first. The Basque daily GARA, whose editorial line is close to the izquierda abertzale, commented before the elections that the Spanish state was failing to quell support for the “golden vote” or to impede its many avenues of distribution.

The Spanish state tried, however. It tried to have all the web sites closed and banned protest demonstrations, while the pro-Spanish Basque police, the Ertzaintza, intimidated and arrested campaigners, raided social centres and confiscated ballots and leaflets – even to display a D3M poster was sufficient to get one arrested. Most of the Spanish and Basque media ignored the statements and campaign of the banned parties, giving weight to the claim of some that the media are complicit in the Spanish state's attempt to isolate the movement.

However, when the votes were counted, it emerged that just short of 101,000 people, nearly 9% of those who voted, had voted for D3M. Had the party been permitted to stand, on that showing alone it would have gained seven members of the Basque Autonomous parliament. Of course, had they been permitted to stand, presumably some of those who abstained would also have voted for them and some of the votes that in the event went to other parties would have gone to them instead. On that basis, one can speculate that the 15% - 20% support that the movement enjoyed in the past still holds steady.

But the absence of the pro-independence Left candidates from the list of the elected threw up some anomalies. Although the PNV, the right-wing Basque nationalist party, won more seats than any other party, it still only got 30 out of the 75. If the other Basque nationalist parties all joined with it that would still only give them a total of 37 seats – one short of an outright majority. For the first time since the region was given limited autonomy by Spain, 30 years ago, the majority of seats are held by parties that support union with Spain (PP – 13; PSE-EE – 24; UpyD – 1).

If all the Spanish-union parties join together, they can rule, but that would put the Basque nationalists into opposition in a Basque Parliament. Or if the social-democratic PSE-EE, which has a working arrangement in the Spanish parliament with the PNV, goes into coalition with the latter, they could also rule. However, the social democrats consider the leader of the PNV, Ibarratexe, to be an “extremist” and are likely to demand that he steps down as Prime Minister of the Basque Parliament, a position he has held following three previous elections. In a PNV-PSE government the nationalist posturing of the PNV is likely to be severely restricted and those who want to see Basque culture and independence advance will have to look either to the small Basque parties or to the banned pro-independence Left movement.

The Spanish state has been seen once again by Basques to be undemocratic and repressive and has been condemned not only by its supporters but by many other sectors in Basque society. The Basque pro-independence Left movement has carried out what they call “one of the biggest acts of civil disobedience in Europe” and appears to be holding its support steady, despite bans on parties and popular organisations, harassment, intimidation, raids, arrests and even torture.

Ends.