Basque politics

Same, but different

The new political face of Basque militancy seeks legitimacy

Bata-what? Never heard of them

THE faces are new, but the back-room boys are the same. Sortu (“Create”), a new Basque separatist party, has been created by Batasuna—a party banned in 2003 as a front for the armed group ETA. Now a court must decide whether Sortu itself should be declared illegal. Will the new party also follow ETA’s orders?

That is hard to say, and harder to prove. The new party’s statutes clearly (and repetitively) state that it opposes violence. They even describe ETA as a group that acts against the “fundamental rights and freedoms” of people. “We are not the continuation of anything,” insisted Iñaki Zabaleta, a Sortu spokesman, after handing the statutes to Spain’s interior ministry on February 9th. But that might not be enough for judges to allow the party to stand in provincial and municipal elections on May 22nd. Many see Mr Zabaleta and his pals as puppets of gunmen. Prosecutors and police claim that Sortu is Batasuna, and hence ETA. Both want it strangled at birth.

A ban is politically tempting. ETA and Batasuna have a history of responding better to sticks than carrots. ETA called a ceasefire last September, declaring it “permanent and general” in January. It would not have done this without a series of police raids that left it in disarray, or without pressure from Batasuna leaders tired of wandering the political wilderness. The absence of a pro-ETA party, which would probably garner 10% of the Basque vote, allowed non-nationalists to take control of the Basque government in 2009. Previous nationalist governments, led by the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), had relied on support from pro-ETA separatists.

Our interactive timeline charts ETA's 52-year campaign for an independent Basque homeland

Political expedience is not, however, a valid argument in court. The strongest reason for banning Sortu is that it is a rebranded Batasuna. Even people who think it should be legal recognise this. “The steps taken by Batasuna meet the legal requirements,” said Josu Erkoreka, a PNV deputy, after Sortu presented itself. The telltale mix-up of names is hardly surprising. A launch meeting for the party was given by two former Batasuna leaders; a former ETA boss sat in the audience. These people seem to pull Sortu’s strings.

If Sortu is banned, Batasuna’s leaders may instead plant their candidates in the electoral lists of Eusko Alkartasuna (EA), a dwindling non-violent separatist party that seems ready to co-operate. “They will stand, with one brand name or another,” a PNV leader said.

Optimists retort that is no bad thing. Even ETA’s fiercest opponents recognise that Batasuna’s leaders need help if they are to wean the group off violence. Political representation could give them greater sway over the gunmen and women—although in the past ETA has commanded and the politicians followed.

Some fear the emergence of an intransigent, hard-core group equivalent to the Real IRA in Northern Ireland, adding another decade to the Basque country’s 50-year history of separatist violence. Most Basques believe, however, that ETA’s end is nigh. The question is how, and when, it will happen. There are no guarantees. The group might be tempted to kill again. That would put Sortu, or a Batasuna-backed EA, in a tight spot.

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