New Basque party may not have had full ETA agreement

 

A number of members of the Basque seperatist group, Batasuna, have said how they did not consult with ETA when forming the new polictical party. Only last week Sortu was named and registered last Wednesday in the hope of being legalized in time for the coming local elections in May. However, whilst ETA may not have been aware of the finer details involved, it was aware that the mandate would have to contain a complete rejection of all forms of armed violence.

EL Pais reported how Sortu sources also confirmed that other Basque nationalist parties - PNV, Eusko Alkartasuna and Aralar - as well as the Basque Socialist Party - knew the hat the new party's statues would reject violence.

The party is understood to be keen to distance itself from ETA's previous methods, and is calling for a new strategy to be based on "strictly democratic and peaceful methods."

Batasuna was outlawed as a political party in 2003 by a Law that made it necessarry for all political parties to openly reject violence for political reasons. In the regional elections of 2009, it's campaign to see a high return of 'void votes' as a protest for separatism was largely unsuccessful.

Sortu is still awaiting a decision from the Spanish courts as to whether they meet the criteria to become a legal party and be able to run in local elections on May 22.