PP's Dark Designs

Today at Berria English:

Otegi says PP was about to suspend Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa autonomy

He added that a “Basque Stormont” could emerge from the way opened up by the National Debate Forum (Nazio Eztabaidagunea)

Editorial Staff

Arnaldo Otegi, the Batasuna spokesman, said in an interview given on Euskadi Irratia (public Basque Autonomous Community radio) yesterday that in the wake of last week’s attacks in Madrid, by attributing responsibility to ETA the Spanish Government wanted to carry out “a kind of coup”, if they had won the elections. Otegi said that on the basis of the information he had received the PP wanted to take three measures in order to implement such a state of exception and they were: “to suspend the Basque autonomy, to put the Ertzaintza police force under the control of the Spanish Interior Ministry, and to arrest people, including myself.” He added that the information had come to him “from reliable sources”.

As to his view on the results of the Spanish general elections Otegi said Basque people had experienced “a sensation of relief” at the prospect of Aznar and the PP going. Nevertheless, he felt it was “too early” to say that things would change with the PSOE, and pointed out that the socialist party's way of governing was “well-known”. With respect to the relations that the EAJ is expected to have with the PSOE, he called on the EAJ to be frank. He believed that there were two possibilities in that political context: “One for the EAJ to reach agreement with the PSOE on the EAJ’s political project, and the other for consensus to be reached among forces in favour of self-determination on certain minimum issues” He added that it was significant that he had not yet heard the word self-determination spoken by Josu Jon Imaz, Chairman of the EAJ National Executive Committee, and stressed that he would very much like to know what plan the EAJ had.

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