Zapatero Says No, Again

Zapatero is out to prove that he is a poor politician, and that in a country were individuals like Jose Maria Aznar had already set the bar quite low.

The only person to blame for the failure of the peace process, Zapatero now rejects the proposal by the Basque Autonomous Community premier Juan Jose Ibarretxe to referendum.

Here you have the note from the International Herald Tribune:

Spanish premier rejects Basque leader's plan for referendum on region's future

The Associated Press
Published: October 16, 2007

MADRID, Spain: The Spanish premier, faced with a resurgence of separatist violence, was adamant in rejecting a proposed referendum on the future of the restive Basque country in talks with the region's president Tuesday.

"The Basque regional president must not call any type of a referendum," Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero told reporters after meeting Basque leader Juan Jose Ibarretxe.

"Any type of referendum or so-called consultation of the people can only be authorized by the government," Zapatero said. "What can't be done won't be done."

But in a separate news conference, Ibarretxe insisted on carrying out his plan to consult Basque people about the region's future relationship with Spain in a referendum Oct. 25, 2008.

"My proposal is absolutely legal, legitimate and democratic," Ibarretxe said, adding that he aimed to reach "an accord to allow Spain and the Basque region to coexist in peace."

Ibarretxe said the meeting with Zapatero was "the first step" in what he hoped would be a "Basque-style Downing Street accord," a reference to the agreement between the British and Irish governments that paved the way for peace in Northern Ireland.

Ibarretxe's proposal comes as the central government faces a resumption of attacks by the armed Basque group ETA, which has killed 800 people since the late 1960s in its quest for an independent Basque state.

With general elections in March, the proposal is certain to be a campaign issue given that the right wing main opposition Popular Party accuses the Socialists of going soft on regional nationalists.

Ibarretxe, a moderate nationalist, announced the plan last month in an apparent response to the collapse of a peace process for the Basque region after ETA called off a so-called permanent cease-fire in June blaming Zapatero for lack of progress in the talks.

But a referendum plan was immediately dismissed by political parties across the board.

The Basque leader, who has been talking about a referendum for years, said the consultation would be based on an accord reached with the Spanish government and would then need to be approved by the Basque parliament.

He insisted, however, he would consult the Basque electorate regardless of whether an agreement was reached with Madrid.

Ibarretxe said the consultation would be based on two principles: rejection of ETA violence and what he called the right of the Basque people to choose their future — usually interpreted as independence.

In 2005 he included it as part of a blueprint calling for much greater Basque autonomy from Spain, including separate representation at the European Union and other international bodies and the right to choose between independence and remaining part of Spain.

The plan was approved by the Basque regional parliament, but was shot down by the national legislature in Madrid on the grounds that it was a thinly veiled, unconstitutional bid to break away from Spain.

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