Patxi Bites the Dust

The drive by the PSOE and the PP to disrupt the political life in the Basque Autonomous Community has finally come to an end.

This travesty was doomed from the get go. It is quite extrange that while the PP is fully engaged in placing all possible obstacles against Prime Minister Rodriguez Zapatero, ergo the three demonstrations it has spearheaded so far, when it came to derailing Ibarretxe's bid to a third term they were very willing to close ranks with Francisco Lopez (aka Patxi Lopez, to make it sound Basque).

Well, to be honest, it is not all that extrange.

And they failed.

They failed because what they are after is plain and simple, to continue the pet project that both parties share, to deny the Basques their right to self determination.

This is part of what Berria published earlier this morning:

Juan Jose Ibarretxe aukeratu dute Eusko Jaurlaritzako lehendakari, azken bi legegintzalditan bezala. PSE-EEko hautagai Patxi Lopezek baino boto bat gehiago lortu du Ibarretxek, 34 hain zuzen ere. EAJren 22boto, EAren 7, EB-Berdeen 3 eta Ezker Abertzalea taldearen 2 boto eskuratu ditu Ibarretxek, denera 34.

He he, just kidding, here you have it in plain English:

By a stroke the Ezker Abertzalea group not only assured Ibarretxe of his presidency, they also took the key for a dead heat out of Aralar’s hands; and by that time it did not matter whether the PP supported Patxi Lopez or not. But despite the disagreements, San Gil (PP) explained that the votes would be for Lopez. Right up until the evening there was doubt on which way Aralar was going to vote: in her speech beforehand Aintzane Ezenarro spared no words to accuse the three parties of lacking the will to achieve consensus, but she left the door open: she had asked for specific replies on a referendum and on the measures to stop incommunicado detention and had announced that she would decide accordingly. In the end she abstained, because last minute talks had failed to yield any fruit.

Of course, Expatica engages in some Basque hating and calls Esker Abertzalea by the labels of radical and separatist, and even going to the extreme of linking it to ETA:

Moderate nationalist Juan Jose Ibarretxe was re-elected president of the regional Basque government thanks to the partial support of a new party linked to the terrorist group ETA.

Ibarretxe won by a simple majority in a vote in the Basque regional legislature, after garnering the support of two of the new deputies from EHAK, a Basque Communist party said to be linked to the banned Batasuna group.

The partial EHAK support for Ibarretxe was announced on Wednesday by the spokesman for the party, Nekane Erauskin, during the first session of debate on the election of the regional president.

The separatist label is applied by AlertNet also, talk about Madrid being savy when handing out "financial encouragement" to the media:

He defeated a bid from Spain's ruling Socialist party and the centre-right opposition Popular Party to end nearly two decades of nationalist rule in the highly-autonomous Basque region of northern Spain.

Socialist spokesman Jose Antonio Pastor warned Ibarretxe against being "hijacked" by the separatists. He offered Ibarretxe political support if he distanced himself from EHAK.

Ibarretxe's own plan to "share" sovereignty in the Basque region with Spain was crushingly defeated by the Spanish parliament earlier this year.

It was effectively dismissed by his party's poor electoral showing in April.

Batasuna, banned as the political wing of ETA from contesting April's vote, told its supporters to vote for EHAK, which shares its aim of an independent Basque state carved from north Spain and southwest France.

Now, why was Ezker Abertzalea (formerly known as EHAK) so reluctant to provide Ibarretxe with their sorely need support?

Well, to many in Euskal Herria, Ibarretxe is more of a lesser evil than a real option.

Although it seems like he works in behalf of the Basques society, there is room for doubt, mainly when it comes to the actions of the Basque Autonomous Police (Ertzaintza) and the resistance by his government to provide the elements that will stop the rampant use of torture.

I have my doubts also, but it seems like one more obstacle has been left behind.

Patxi, you failed.

San Gil, you failed.

Ibarretxe, don't let us down, pretty please.

Gazteiz

Basque premier Juan Jos Ibarretxe (R) is congratulated by Socialist leader Patxi Lopez after being elected president of the Basque government in Vitoria, northern Spain, June 23, 2005. Ibarretxe, who was elected for a third consecutive term with the support of a radical separatist party, has pledged to push ahead with a plan to end four decades of violence by armed separatist group ETA within the next six months. REUTERS/Vincent West

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