Turmoil on Election Eve

The recipe for disaster that Aznar has been cooking for the last couple of months is being covered by this article published at ABC News:

Turmoil Hits Basque Areas on Election Eve

Wed May 21, 2:41 PM ET

By ED McCULLOUGH, Associated Press Writer

SAN SEBASTIAN, Spain - A policeman is murdered. A newspaper is shut down. A political party is banned and then - just days ahead of municipal elections this weekend - hundreds of candidates are barred by court order from seeking public office.

Unusual events, even in politically turbulent Basque country, where half the population wants independence and the armed separartists pursue their goal with bombings and assassinations.

"It's a scandal," says Xabier Arzalluz, longtime head of the Basque National Party, which runs the three-province Basque region extending from the Pyrenees mountain border with France west along the Bay of Biscay and south to the famous Rioja wine district.

"Everything that's happening, shouldn't," Arzalluz said last week at party headquarters in nearby Bilbao. "Here there is no (real) separation of powers."

Sunday's vote is mostly for mayors and other municipal posts, not national or regional. But the unrelenting drive for Basque autonomy - and Spain's resolute opposition to that - is a leading campaign issue, along the violence of the armed Basque separatist group ETA.

The pro-Basque independence party Batasuna was outlawed for its alleged ties to ETA, and at Spain's request, Batasuna this month was added to the U.S. State Department's list of terrorist groups.

"They're going to rob 1,000 representatives from us," fumed Batasuna representative Joseba Alvarez Forcada.

The ruling Popular Party and the Socialists, Spain's two main political groups, are pressing hard to win the mayor's office in each Basque provincial capital: San Sebastian, Bilbao and Vitoria.

Reportedly that's never happened.

Nationwide, Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar hopes that positioning his Popular Party as a bulwark against Basque independence and ETA terrorism will offset Spaniards' overwhelming opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, which he supported.

During the past year, a number of alleged ETA militants have been arrested, and planned ETA attacks discovered and averted. The separatist group may be on the defensive, as the government claims, but it has been extraordinarily quiet, staging few bombings or fatal assaults.

Last week, though, ETA urged Basque voters to cast blank ballots Sunday to protest the government's crackdown.

"These will be the first elections in Spain in which ETA will have neither votes nor representation," Justice Minister Jose Maria Michavila said in a recent interview with El Mundo newspaper.

Political and legal developments have tumbled one after the other with surprising - some say suspicious - speed.

On Feb. 8, a policeman noted for his anti-Basque independence views was shot and killed at point-blank range.

On Feb. 21, the only Basque-language newspaper, Egunkaria, was shut down for its alleged ETA connections. Editor Martxelo Otamendi denied any such link and claims police tortured him during his five days in detention. The Interior Ministry denied that. Otamendi and six others were freed on bail but, as of last week, three journalists remained in jail.

The Supreme Court outlawed Batasuna on March 17, making it the first party banned since 1975, when longtime dictator Gen. Francisco Franco died and democracy flourished anew.

Earlier this month, the Constitutional Court, Spain's highest, barred about 1,200 nationalist candidates from running, calling them disguised members of Batasuna. In 1999, Batasuna won about 10 percent of the municipal vote and about 50 mayor slots, mostly in rural towns.

"It's a steamroller. They don't waste time even trying to hide it," said Marivi Ugarteburu, mayor of Amoroto, a picturesque village in a green valley cutting through steep hillsides, dotted with traditional Basque stone houses with red tile roofs. She called herself a political independent who supports Basque freedom.

Despite all the drama, little of the Basque conundrum will be resolved Sunday. Neither side is strong enough to impose its view, nor weak enough to be overcome. The approximately 2 million residents of Basque Country split almost 50-50 on the issue of independence - and the impasse seems likely to continue for years.

The question is, why would an alleged democratic leader such as Aznar have any interest on creating such an unstable atmosphere previous to an electoral process?

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