Recent Years
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In 1959 ETA was created by young undergraduates from the area of Bilbao (organization EKIN) lured by Basque nationalist ideology, but increasingly disgruntled at the ineffective political action of the PNV, largely daunted by after-war repression and scattered in exile. In addition, the new generation resented an attempt of PNV to pull the strings of their movement and PNV's youth wing Euzko Gaztedi (EGI), with whom they had merged in the mid-50s, as well as showing a more modern stance, stressing for one the language as the centre of Basqueness, instead of race.
In the 1950s and 60s the party looked for alliances abroad, expecting at first that the defeat of the Axis in World War II would encourage USA's support for an eventual overthrow of Franco's hold on power, which didn't happen. In addition, it was a founder party of the Christian Democrat International, but now the party is an active member of the European Democratic Party, with the French Union pour la Démocratie Française, etc.
In 1987, dissenters from the party formed the rival Eusko Alkartasuna ("Basque Solidarity"). Carlos Garaikoetxea was then elected as the first president of the rival party.
The split from the PNV was mainly based on:
- A personality clash between the lehendakari Garaikoetxea, who went to form Eusko Alkartasuna (EA), and the PNV leader Xabier Arzalluz.
- The configuration of the Basque Country:
- A strong Basque government and weak provinces (EA).
- Strong provinces (PNV).
Afterwards, some ideological differences also came out. EA adopted a social-democratic ideology, while the PNV remained more attached to its Christian-democratic ideas.
The split was particularly bitter given the fact that it was headed by the lehendakari himself. Many PNV political bars (batzoki, "meeting place") became alkartetxe ("mutual house").
Since 1991, as time has eased the bitter split (helped by the fact that both Arzalluz and Garaikoetxea have gone into political retirement), both parties agreed to form an electoral coalition in a number of local elections as a means to maximize the nationalist votes, which eventually led to reunite both candidatures in a joint list again for the regional governments of Navarra and the Basque Autonomous Community in 1998. Thus, EA has participated in several PNV-led Basque governments, including the 2006 government of President Juan José Ibarretxe Markuartu. Still, EA decided to run by itself in the municipal elections held in May 2007.
Until its election defeat in 2009, PNV dominated every administration of the Basque government. In Navarre, EA and PNV formed the coalition Nafarroa Bai along with Aralar and Batzarre. The PNV has one of the twelve seats of Navarre Yes in the Parliament of Navarre.
Former president Juan José Ibarretxe spearheaded a call for the reform of the Statute of Autonomy that governs the Basque Country Autonomous Community, through a proposal widely known as the Ibarretxe Plan which was rejected by the Cortes Generales.
Read more about this topic: Basque Nationalist Party
Famous quotes containing the word years:
“In the death of my son, now more than two years ago, I seem to have lost a beautiful estate,—no more. I cannot get it nearer to me.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“In most nineteenth-century cities, both large and small, more than 50 percent—and often up to 75 percent—of the residents in any given year were no longer there ten years later. People born in the twentieth century are much more likely to live near their birthplace than were people born in the nineteenth century.”
—Stephanie Coontz (20th century)