Basque referendum, 2008
Encyclopedia
The proposed 2008 referendum was a poll intended to occur in the Basque Country
in that year, but prevented by the Spanish government. The poll was to be a consultative referendum
, in which two questions were put to the electorate, concerning self-determination from Spain
. It was scheduled for 25 October 2008 but the decision to hold the vote was appealed by the Spanish government to the Constitutional Court of Spain
, which ruled on 11 September 2008 that the referendum could not go ahead. In turn, the PNV appealed this ruling, to the European Court of Human Rights
, which later upheld the Spanish Constitutional Court ruling in February 2010.
The 2008 referendum was proposed by former lehendakari
(president of the Basque country autonomous community) Juan José Ibarretxe
. The first question was to concern whether to engage in talks with ETA
; the second was to be on whether there should be a political debate on the "right to decide about the Basque people", a coded reference to the issue of whether the Basque Country should remain in Spain.
, with the support of the three-party coalition that made up his government: the Basque Nationalist Party
(Ibarretxe's own), Eusko Alkartasuna
and Ezker Batua Berdeak
.. The lone Aralar
MP also supported the call while the Basque branches of both Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
and conservative People's Party
rejected it. This made a 33-33 tie at the Basque regional Parliament.
On 27 June 2008, the referendum cite was approved by the Basque Parliament
narrowly by 34 to 33, and 7 abstentions. To break the existing 33 to 33 vote tie at the Basque autonomous Parliament, the referendum cite received the tactical support of one of the EHAK MPs, regarded as ETA's political arm–, while the other 7 MPs of this party abstained.
Ibarretxe preferred to call the vote a "consultation" rather than a referendum and stated he would negotiate its terms with the Spanish central government
until June 2008 and then would submit a possible mutually accepted plan to a binding referendum; should the negotiations fail. Ibarretxe stated he would hold a non-binding referendum on the future of the Basque Country. Eventually in his plans, if his coalition still held the government, another referendum in 2010 would then decide the final status of the Basque Country. (later on, the coalition he led failed to retain the government at the next regional election
. Ibarretxe stated he believes an open-ended discussion on Basque independence would help to end the conflict with ETA
.
The two questions were revealed on 28 May 2008. The questions proposed were:
First
¿Está usted de acuerdo en apoyar un proceso de final dialogado de la violencia, si previamente ETA manifiesta de forma inequívoca su voluntad de poner fin a la misma de una vez y para siempre?.
Second
¿Está usted de acuerdo en que los partidos vascos, sin exclusiones, inicien un proceso de negociación para alcanzar un acuerdo democrático sobre el ejercicio del derecho a decidir del Pueblo Vasco, y que dicho acuerdo sea sometido a referéndum antes de que finalice el año 2010?
Those eligible to vote were the Spanish citizens registered to vote in the Basque Country
. That caused criticism from those advocating for the referendum to include the so-called historical Basque territories
and those who asked for it to include all of Spain
.
and the People's Party
, including their Basque branches, reject his plan, while regional nationalist parties such as the Galician Nationalist Bloc and the Republican Left of Catalonia expressed their support..
The Basque MP Santiago Abascal, of the People's Party, caused a minor controversy at the regional parliament when he broke a piece of paper simbolising the referendum, arguing that Ibarretxe's project would break the Basque society, further dividing it.
There is a part within the Basque Nationalist Party itself that opposed more or less overtly the convenience of the referendum, since it is thought to strenghthen ETA from its current downfall. This part of the party includes former party leader Josu Jon Imaz
or Bilbao
's mayor Iñaki Azkuna, who thinks that the referendum should not be held with ETA being active and without a general consensus to hold it in the first place.
ETA in a communique declared the referendum a fraud, still, the media especulated with the fact that ETA could have declared a temporary, tactical and unofficial recess of its activities during the previous dates before the referendum was discussed at the Basque autonomous parliament
, only to resume its attacks right after the referendum was appealed by the government before the Constitutional Court of Spain
for a constitutionality
check.
, thus suspending the referendum plans. The suspension occurred on 17 July 2008.. The Court ruled unanimously on 11 September 2008 that the referendum was unconstitutional, as only the central government could call such a referendum. The court said that only Spain's central government could conduct referendums and that the issue that this one wanted to raise, the possibility of changing the Basque region's relationship with the rest of Spain, is something that all Spaniards would have to decide on, not just Basques; in turn, Ibarretxe said he respected the court ruling, while adding that the court was "acting for political reasons disguised in a legal veneer".
He subsequently called on "the Basque people" and its political parties to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights
to take Spain to task over the court decision..
upheld the Spanish Constitutional Court ruling, ruling that the Spanish government had not violated the European Convention on Human Rights.
Basque Country (autonomous community)
The Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, also called Historical Territories....
in that year, but prevented by the Spanish government. The poll was to be a consultative referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
, in which two questions were put to the electorate, concerning self-determination from Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. It was scheduled for 25 October 2008 but the decision to hold the vote was appealed by the Spanish government to the Constitutional Court of Spain
Constitutional Court of Spain
thumb|300px|The [[Domenico Scarlatti]] Building located in [[Madrid]], seat of the Constitutional Court of Justice of Spain.The Constitutional Court of Spain is the highest judicial body with the power to determine the constitutionality of acts and statutes of the Spanish Government. It is...
, which ruled on 11 September 2008 that the referendum could not go ahead. In turn, the PNV appealed this ruling, to the European Court of Human Rights
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is a supra-national court established by the European Convention on Human Rights and hears complaints that a contracting state has violated the human rights enshrined in the Convention and its protocols. Complaints can be brought by individuals or...
, which later upheld the Spanish Constitutional Court ruling in February 2010.
The 2008 referendum was proposed by former lehendakari
Lehendakari
The President of the Basque Government , usually known in English as the Basque regional president, is the head of government of Basque Country. The president leads the executive branch of the regional government....
(president of the Basque country autonomous community) Juan José Ibarretxe
Juan José Ibarretxe
Juan José Ibarretxe Markuartu is a Basque politician of Spain. A leading member of the Basque Nationalist Party , he was President of Spain's Basque Country autonomous community from January 2, 1999 to May 7, 2009....
. The first question was to concern whether to engage in talks with ETA
ETA
ETA , an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization. The group was founded in 1959 and has since evolved from a group promoting traditional Basque culture to a paramilitary group with the goal of gaining independence for the Greater Basque Country...
; the second was to be on whether there should be a political debate on the "right to decide about the Basque people", a coded reference to the issue of whether the Basque Country should remain in Spain.
Forging
The referendum-like vote was announced on 28 September 2007 by Juan José IbarretxeJuan José Ibarretxe
Juan José Ibarretxe Markuartu is a Basque politician of Spain. A leading member of the Basque Nationalist Party , he was President of Spain's Basque Country autonomous community from January 2, 1999 to May 7, 2009....
, with the support of the three-party coalition that made up his government: the Basque Nationalist Party
Basque Nationalist Party
The Basque National Party is the largest and oldest Basque nationalist party. It is currently the largest political party in the Basque Autonomous Community also with a minor presence in Navarre and a marginal one in the French Basque Country...
(Ibarretxe's own), Eusko Alkartasuna
Eusko Alkartasuna
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...
and Ezker Batua Berdeak
United Left (Spain)
The United Left is a political coalition that was organized in 1986 bringing together several political organisations opposed to Spain joining NATO. It was formed by a number of groups of leftists, greens, left-wing socialists and republicans, but was dominated by the Communist Party of Spain...
.. The lone Aralar
Aralar Party
Aralar is a Basque socialist and separatist political party in Spain. The party is led by Patxi Zabaleta. It is opposed to the violent struggle of ETA....
MP also supported the call while the Basque branches of both Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is a social-democratic political party in Spain. Its political position is Centre-left. The PSOE is the former ruling party of Spain, until beaten in the elections of November 2011 and the second oldest, exceeded only by the Partido Carlista, founded in...
and conservative People's Party
People's Party (Spain)
The People's Party is a conservative political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation in 1989 of the People's Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship...
rejected it. This made a 33-33 tie at the Basque regional Parliament.
On 27 June 2008, the referendum cite was approved by the Basque Parliament
Basque Parliament
The Basque Parliament is the legislative body of the Basque Autonomous Community of Spain and the elected assembly to which the Basque Government is responsible....
narrowly by 34 to 33, and 7 abstentions. To break the existing 33 to 33 vote tie at the Basque autonomous Parliament, the referendum cite received the tactical support of one of the EHAK MPs, regarded as ETA's political arm–, while the other 7 MPs of this party abstained.
Ibarretxe preferred to call the vote a "consultation" rather than a referendum and stated he would negotiate its terms with the Spanish central government
Politics of Spain
The politics of Spain take place in the framework of a parliamentary representative democratic constitutional monarchy, whereby the Monarch is the Head of State and the President of the Government is the head of government in a multi-party system. Executive power is vested in the government...
until June 2008 and then would submit a possible mutually accepted plan to a binding referendum; should the negotiations fail. Ibarretxe stated he would hold a non-binding referendum on the future of the Basque Country. Eventually in his plans, if his coalition still held the government, another referendum in 2010 would then decide the final status of the Basque Country. (later on, the coalition he led failed to retain the government at the next regional election
Basque parliamentary election, 2009
Elections to the Basque regional parliament were held in the Basque Country on 1 March 2009.Shortly before the election, two parties reportedly tied to ETA – D3M and Askatasuna, "Freedom" – were banned by a court ruling from standing in the election.-Results:In stark contrast with the latest...
. Ibarretxe stated he believes an open-ended discussion on Basque independence would help to end the conflict with ETA
ETA
ETA , an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization. The group was founded in 1959 and has since evolved from a group promoting traditional Basque culture to a paramilitary group with the goal of gaining independence for the Greater Basque Country...
.
The two questions were revealed on 28 May 2008. The questions proposed were:
First
¿Está usted de acuerdo en apoyar un proceso de final dialogado de la violencia, si previamente ETA manifiesta de forma inequívoca su voluntad de poner fin a la misma de una vez y para siempre?.
- Do you agree to supporting a process of dialogued end to the violence, if ETA previously declares unmistakably their will to end it once and for all?
Second
¿Está usted de acuerdo en que los partidos vascos, sin exclusiones, inicien un proceso de negociación para alcanzar un acuerdo democrático sobre el ejercicio del derecho a decidir del Pueblo Vasco, y que dicho acuerdo sea sometido a referéndum antes de que finalice el año 2010?
- Do you agree that the Basque parties, without exceptions, start a process of negotiation to reach a democratic agreement about the right to decide of the Basque People, and that the aforementioned agreement will be submitted to referendum before the end of the year 2010?
Those eligible to vote were the Spanish citizens registered to vote in the Basque Country
Basque Country (autonomous community)
The Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, also called Historical Territories....
. That caused criticism from those advocating for the referendum to include the so-called historical Basque territories
Basque Country (historical territory)
The Basque Country is the name given to the home of the Basque people in the western Pyrenees that spans the border between France and Spain on the Atlantic coast....
and those who asked for it to include all of Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
.
Reactions
The referendum call was widely seen as a veiled attempt to garner support for Basque independence.. As such, both the Spanish Socialist Workers' PartySpanish Socialist Workers' Party
The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is a social-democratic political party in Spain. Its political position is Centre-left. The PSOE is the former ruling party of Spain, until beaten in the elections of November 2011 and the second oldest, exceeded only by the Partido Carlista, founded in...
and the People's Party
People's Party (Spain)
The People's Party is a conservative political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation in 1989 of the People's Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship...
, including their Basque branches, reject his plan, while regional nationalist parties such as the Galician Nationalist Bloc and the Republican Left of Catalonia expressed their support..
The Basque MP Santiago Abascal, of the People's Party, caused a minor controversy at the regional parliament when he broke a piece of paper simbolising the referendum, arguing that Ibarretxe's project would break the Basque society, further dividing it.
There is a part within the Basque Nationalist Party itself that opposed more or less overtly the convenience of the referendum, since it is thought to strenghthen ETA from its current downfall. This part of the party includes former party leader Josu Jon Imaz
Josu Jon Imaz
Josu Jon Imaz San Miguel is a politician and chemist in the Basque Country autonomous community, Spain...
or Bilbao
Bilbao
Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...
's mayor Iñaki Azkuna, who thinks that the referendum should not be held with ETA being active and without a general consensus to hold it in the first place.
ETA in a communique declared the referendum a fraud, still, the media especulated with the fact that ETA could have declared a temporary, tactical and unofficial recess of its activities during the previous dates before the referendum was discussed at the Basque autonomous parliament
Basque Parliament
The Basque Parliament is the legislative body of the Basque Autonomous Community of Spain and the elected assembly to which the Basque Government is responsible....
, only to resume its attacks right after the referendum was appealed by the government before the Constitutional Court of Spain
Constitutional Court of Spain
thumb|300px|The [[Domenico Scarlatti]] Building located in [[Madrid]], seat of the Constitutional Court of Justice of Spain.The Constitutional Court of Spain is the highest judicial body with the power to determine the constitutionality of acts and statutes of the Spanish Government. It is...
for a constitutionality
Constitutionality
Constitutionality is the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution. Acts that are not in accordance with the rules laid down in the constitution are deemed to be ultra vires.-See also:*ultra vires*Company law*Constitutional law...
check.
Constitutional Court
The Spanish government appealed the vote to the Constitutional Court of SpainConstitutional Court of Spain
thumb|300px|The [[Domenico Scarlatti]] Building located in [[Madrid]], seat of the Constitutional Court of Justice of Spain.The Constitutional Court of Spain is the highest judicial body with the power to determine the constitutionality of acts and statutes of the Spanish Government. It is...
, thus suspending the referendum plans. The suspension occurred on 17 July 2008.. The Court ruled unanimously on 11 September 2008 that the referendum was unconstitutional, as only the central government could call such a referendum. The court said that only Spain's central government could conduct referendums and that the issue that this one wanted to raise, the possibility of changing the Basque region's relationship with the rest of Spain, is something that all Spaniards would have to decide on, not just Basques; in turn, Ibarretxe said he respected the court ruling, while adding that the court was "acting for political reasons disguised in a legal veneer".
He subsequently called on "the Basque people" and its political parties to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is a supra-national court established by the European Convention on Human Rights and hears complaints that a contracting state has violated the human rights enshrined in the Convention and its protocols. Complaints can be brought by individuals or...
to take Spain to task over the court decision..
European Court of Human Rights
Following the PNV's appeal, in February 2010 the European Court of Human RightsEuropean Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is a supra-national court established by the European Convention on Human Rights and hears complaints that a contracting state has violated the human rights enshrined in the Convention and its protocols. Complaints can be brought by individuals or...
upheld the Spanish Constitutional Court ruling, ruling that the Spanish government had not violated the European Convention on Human Rights.