THE ELECTION of Patxi López as first minister or Lehendakariof the government of the Basque Autonomous Community (CAV) on Tuesday marks a historic shift. The Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) has led every government there since Madrid conceded extensive powers of self-government in 1980.
Normally a change of government after such a long period could only be seen as healthy. The danger of staleness, and indeed corruption, grows every time the same party returns to power without an interval in opposition. Undoubtedly many Basques are exhilarated by the prospect of “fresh air” in the region. But this exhilaration must be tempered by unease because the circumstances are far from normal in democratic terms.
In the first place, Eta’s terrorist campaign continues to cast a cruel and distorting shadow on Basque politics. The group has been greatly weakened by a series of arrests and its “armed struggle” has lost much of its appeal among pro-independence Basques. But Eta still targets politicians, academics and journalists who oppose it, laying an especially heavy burden on López’s Socialist Party and conservative Partido Popular (PP), which supported his election from the opposition benches.
The response of both parties has been to introduce legislation banning groups, like Batasuna, which refuse to condemn Eta’s violence. A reluctance to share council chambers and parliaments with apparent proxies of one’s assassins is understandable. But the outcome, especially given the disturbingly broad-brush approach of Spanish courts to the issue, has been to leave a large segment of the Basque electorate feeling disenfranchised. Certainly, López would not have been elected first minister if this segment was still represented in the Basque parliament, raising a question in some Basque minds about his government’s legitimacy. He also faces strong opposition even from the relatively moderate PNV, which won five more seats than his party in the election and accuses him of conspiring with the PP to “destroy” Basque cultural identity.
If López allows the PP to dictate his agenda in this direction, the Basque conflict could become even more intractable. A much more popular course would be a Socialist coalition with the PNV, a formula which has worked before and which might yet emerge in the next year or so. That would almost certainly force the Socialists – as a minority partner – to cede the premiership they have so coveted. But at least they would do so having broken a hegemony that has lasted too long.