Eusko Alkartasuna

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The party's logo has "EA" in white on a half-red, half-green oak leaf. Red, green and white are the colors of the Basque flag.

Basque Country (autonomous community)

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Eusko Alkartasuna is a Basque nationalist political party operating in Spain and France. The Basque language name means Basque Solidarity and abbreviated as EA. The party describes itself as a Basque nationalist, democratic, popular, progressive and non-denominational party. Recently, the party adopted the subtitle "Euskal Sozialdemokrazia" ("Basque social democracy").

According to their statute, they are striving to achieve "full national and social freedom in and for the Basque Country". They support the creation of an independent Euskal Herria, but see it as achievable through the project of the European Union, as a union of peoples, a federation of nations, not states.

[edit] Origin

Even though the idea for a Basque national political party separate from both Herri Batasuna and the Partido Nacionalista Vasco (PNV, Basque: Euzko Alderdi-Jeltzalea, "Basque Nationalist Party") emerged in 1986, it was not until 1987 that the first congress of the party was held in Pamplona-Iruña in 1987. Carlos Garaikoetxea was then elected as the party's first president.

The split from the PNV was based on:

• A personality clash between the lehendakari (Basque President) Garaikoetxea (who went to form EA) and the PNV leader Xabier Arzalluz.
• The configuration of the Basque Country:
  • A strong Basque government and weak provinces (EA).
  • Strong provinces (PNV).
• Social democrat (EA) / conservative (PNV)

The split was particularly bitter given that the new party was headed by the lehendakari himself. Every local organization had to vote on whether to go to EA or remain in PNV. Many PNV political bars (batzoki, "meeting place") became alkartetxe ("mutual house"). Ramón Doral, an ertzaintza (Basque policeman) closely connected to PNV was convicted of wiretapping EA leaders for PNV.

[edit] Name

When dissident members of the Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ-PNV) reached the conclusion that they needed to form a new party, they talked about taking the name of Eusko Abertzaleak–Nacionalistas Vascos ("Basque Nationalists"), but that name had been registered by another group on October 3. Deprived of that choice, EA founders presumably sought another name reminiscent of EAJ, and of the largest trade union of the Basque Country Eusko Langileen Alkartasuna. The name Eusko Alkartasuna was registered on October 10.

The standard Basque for "solidarity" is elkartasun. Alkartasun is a Biscayne form. At the time of foundation, "EE" was used by Euskadiko Ezkerra; this alternate form of the word was used so as not to have two parties with the same initials.

[edit] Recent years

EA lost roughly 50% of its electoral support between 1986 and 1998 (from 15.84% to 8.69% in the Basque Autonomous Community^[1] and from 7.1% to 4.56% in Navarre^[2]).

Since 1991, as time has eased the bitter split from the PNV (helped by the fact that both Arzalluz and Garaikoetxea have gone into political retirement), both parties agreed to form an electoral coalition in a number of local elections as a means to maximalize the nationalist votes, which eventually led them to present a joint list for the regional governments of Navarra and the Basque Autonomous Community in 1998. Thus, EA has participated in several PNV-led Basque governments, including the current one of President Juan José Ibarretxe Markuartu. Still, EA has decided to run by itself next municipal elections to be held in May 2007.

In the 2004 General Elections, the party won one seat in the congress of the Spanish parliament, from the province of Gipuzkoa, with some 80,000 votes. Eusko Alkartasuna has coalesced with Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) for elections to European Parliament. In Navarre, it formed the coalition Nafarroa Bai with PNV and other nationalist parties.

After the breakup of Euskadiko Ezkerra, EA amalgamated the dissidents grouped in Euskal Ezkerra (EuE).

The party is currently headed by Begoña Errazti.

EA called for a "No" vote on the European Constitution proposal in the referenda held in Spain and France in 2005.

The youth wing of the party is the Young Patriots (Gazte Abertzaleak).

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• official website of Eusko Alkartasuna (contains an English-language section)
• Gazte Abertzaleak or young patriots, the Eusko Alkartasuna youth group (only in Basque and Spanish)