Friday, March 14, 2008

"Condemned"

This note was published by EITb:

Politics

Interview with Radio Euskadi

Ibarretxe to Zapatero: "We are condemned to understand each other"

03/13/2008

He thinks 2008 is the year of "breaking of politics deadlock". Therefore, "an important year to achieve peace, political agreements, to coexist between Basque Country and Spain".

Basque Prime Minister, Juan José Ibarretxe, has said that he phoned Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero on election night and told him that the agenda was open and after saying they were "condemned to understand each other", he has assured that he believes in a "possible" agreement.

In an interview to the Basque radio station Radio Euskadi, he has declared that they have to "start working" and has emphasized that, in conversations with Zapatero, he told him he was ready for an agreement. "We need, we want an agreement and we think it is possible", he has said.

The Basque premier is convinced that 2008 is the year of the "breaking of politics deadlock". Therefore, "an important year to achieve peace, political agreements, to coexist between Basque Country and Spain, and a year to keep governing".

Ibarretxe has also pointed out that he hopes to take the achieved agreement with the Spanish Primer Minister to Basque Paliament.

Extended hand

Basque Prime Minister has stated in relation to a possible negotiation, that when someone wants to negotiate, he has to show "openness". "Zapatero has been negotiating with the Basque armed group ETA five months ago about Basque people’s right to decide, since if he has been negotiating with ETA why would not he negotiate with the Basque premier", he has pointed out.

Steps

Ibarretxe has pointed out that the first step to carry out in the "political agenda" is political negotiation. He has explained that if a pact cannot be taken to the Parliament, a request will be presented in order to "give Basque society the word to make clear their position about two subjects". Those two aspects would be, on the one hand, to tell ETA that a dialogued process to finish with violence must be opened. On the other hand, to give political parties a mandate, so that in a certain period and before 2010 a "democratic agreement" is achieved.


Oh but they understand each other already, they both work towards one goal, to deprive the Basque people from their right to decide their future. Ibarretxe is all words and not much else as proven by his actions throughout the length of his time as lehendakari of the Basque Autonomous Community. In fact, Ibarretxe enters this period heavily weakened because this time 120,000 Basques decided to take away the support they showed him for the last eight years, eight years in which Ibarretxe allowed Jabier Balza to repress and torture as many Basques as he could in behalf of Jose Maria Aznar and Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

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