By Tito Drago
MADRID, Oct 26 1998 (IPS)

The peace process in the Basque Country in northern Spain received a boost in the elections held Sunday in the autonomous region.

Two rival political options, each of which exercises decisive weight when it comes to peace negotiations, made significant progress in the elections: the centre-right Popular Party (PP) which rules Spain, and the Euskal Herritarrok (EH) coalition, a nationalist leftist grouping with ties to the outlawed separatist organisation ETA.

The moderate Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) which currently governs the region once again garnered the greatest number of votes, although it lost one of the 22 seats it held in the region’s Autonomous Parliament.

The balance of forces between nationalists and parties in favour of the Basque Country remaining part of Spain was unchanged: 41 to 34 seats.

But voter behaviour showed a marked change, with turnout up more than 10 percent from the last elections. More than 70 percent – 1.3 million voters – cast ballots Sunday in the first elections held under the unilateral truce declared on Sep. 16 by ETA, rather than under a shadow of kidnappings, assassination attempts and threats.

And important changes were also seen within the two main tendencies, the nationalists and those in favour of Spanish unity.

On the nationalist front, the biggest change was the growth of EH, which garnered 223,264 votes – 57,000 more than the number of votes taken by Herri Batasuna (HB) (the political arm of ETA) in the previous elections, held in 1994. EH, which replaced HB, is comprised of former HB members as well as several candidates who have spoken out against the use of violence.

Among the parties defending the position that the Basque Country is part of Spain, the conservative PP took 250,580 votes, 103,000 more than in 1994, making it one of the strongest political forces in the region, second only to the PNV.

There is unanimous agreement that the new autonomus Basque government, to be designated by the region’s parliament, is to be presided over by PNV candidate Juan Jose Ibarretxe. What has yet to be worked out is whether the governing coalition will only include the PNV and Eusko Alkartasuna (EA) – which split from the PNV – or other parties as well.

In previous years, the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) comprised the third member of the governing coalition. On Sunday, the PSOE won votes but lost seats.

What everyone agrees on is that EH will not form part of the government.

The PNV took 27.9 percent of the votes, PP 20.1 percent, EH 17.9, PSOE 17.5, EA 8.7, the United Left 5.6, and Unidad Alavesa 1.2 percent.

Analysts attribute the higher voter turnout as well as the increase in votes and seats taken by the PP and EH to the parties’ respective stances on violence.

The PP reaped the fruits of its staunch opposition to ETA (Basque Fatherland and Freedom in the Basque language) and the fact that it did not resort to illegal repressive measures, and of its staying power in the face of a series of murders of local PP leaders.

The PP scored victories in the city of San Sebastian and the province of Alava – one of the three which comprise the Basque Country – as well as in the capital of the region, Vitoria. In Bilbao, the region’s other large city, the PNV triumphed, followed by the PP.

For its part, Euskal Herritarok – Basque Citizens in the Basque language – regained ground among voters who had distanced themselves from the separatist options in the last elections due to their opposition to ETA’s uncurbed violence.

ETA’s announcement of a unilateral, unconditional truce last month, which was confirmed in statements to the British media chain BBC two days prior to the elections, boosted the EH’s share of votes, according to observers.

Once the election results were in, the out-going president of the Basque Country government, moderate nationalist Jose Antonio Ardanza, said the move toward peace was “unstoppable” because “no one will put the peace process at risk.”

The elections confirmed that support for the EH grew after the announcement of the truce. The EH candidates’ poll ratings had dropped prior to the announcement of the truce, while less than one month later the votes taken by the coalition showed a significant increase in support for the leftist nationalist candidates.

The PP became the second force in the region, with the greatest rise in votes of all parties – which strengthens the authority of the president of Spain’s central government, Jose Maria Aznar, when it comes to discussing the conditions under which ETA may finally down its arms.

Such conditions will be directly or indirectly debated in political settings like the Mesa de Ajuria Enea (made up of all parties with parliamentary representation in the Basque Country with the exception of EH) and the Mesa de Madrid (comprised of all parties with parliamentary representation in Spain, again with the exception of EH).

The first modification demanded by the moderate nationalist parties is that EH be brought into the dialogue.

The PP, which was opposed to engaging in dialogue with those carrying out violence and their supporters, may accept that incorporation today, according to analysts, since the EH has confirmed its willingness to participate in parliament – and because all is quiet on the ETA front.

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