Basque Nationalist Party

Eusko Alderdi Jeltzalea / Partido Nacionalista Vasco ( EAJ / PNV ) ( German: ' Basque party of the followers of JEL / Basque Nationalist Party ') is a political party in Spain with great regional importance in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country. In addition to the nationalist orientation of the party is conservative -Christian. EAJ / PNV is committed to a strongly expanded autonomy or independence of the Basque Country a (Plan Ibarretxe ). To this end, it relies on the self -determination of peoples, and will conduct a referendum in which the population of the Basque Country can freely determine their political future.

Since the end of the dictatorship EAJ / PNV was consistently the strongest political force in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country and stood there until the change of government in 2009 also through the head of government ( Lehendakari ), as this was Juan José Ibarretxe. Party chairman since 2007, is Iñigo Urkullu.

In the elections to the Spanish Parliament, the PNV occurs only in the Basque Country, where it achieves good results on a regular basis, although somewhat weaker than in the regional elections. In the legislative period 2008-2012 is represented by six deputies and making it the fourth largest party. At the European level, it is a member of the European Democratic Party and 2004-2009 represented by a deputy in the European Parliament.

History

The Basque Nationalist Party was founded in 1895 by Sabino Arana Goiri. The longtime political leader of the party Xabier Arzalluz handed in early 2004 after 25 years of the party presidency to his successor, Josu Jon Imaz. Since 1979, the PNV is the strongest force in the Spanish Basque Country ( legislative period 2005-2009: 22 seats in the Basque regional parliament) and set to 2009 without interruption, the Prime Minister of the Regional Government, most recently in a coalition with smaller parties Eusko Alkartasuna (EA) and Ezker Batua / Izquierda Unida (EB).

The Spanish Basque country has since the year 1979 on a stand-alone autonomous status. In October 2003, presented the Basque Prime Minister Juan Jose Ibarretxe, a pupil of Arzalluz, a bill to expand the so -called Plan Ibarretxe autonomous status strong. The aim is, among others, the recognition of self-determination of the Basque Country, an independent judiciary for the Basque Country and the right to own diplomatic missions outside the Basque Country. This bill was passed in the Basque Parliament in December 2004, in February 2005, but was rejected by the Cortes Generales and failed.

Since the crucial vote to the party chairmanship in January 2004, when Josu Jon Imaz prevailed over those supported by Arzalluz Joseba Egibar, gained within the PNV first the moderate wing of the party to Imaz compared to the more nationalistic oriented line Egibars and Ibarretxes strength. Thus, the PNV variously supported the Spanish PSOE minority government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and carried especially its policy towards the Basque terrorist organization ETA with. After the announcement of ETA ceasefire in June 2007, however, exacerbated the conflicts between the two wings of the PNV, so that a split in the party threatened. On 12 September 2007 therefore announced Josu Jon Imaz his resignation from the party presidency and his retirement from politics; His successor was the consensus candidate Iñigo Urkullu, by then chairman of the PNV in the province of Vizcaya.

At the same time the election results of the PNV declined since 2004 from gradually, of which especially the PSOE benefited. In the Spanish general elections of 2008, the socialist PSOE achieved for the first time in all regions of the Basque Country better results than the PNV. In the Basque regional elections of 2009, the PNV strongest party was indeed again; However, it lost the government coalition with EA and EB its majority. With the support of the conservative Partido Popular (PP ), therefore, the PSOE was able to assert their candidate Patxi López as Prime Minister.

Assembly of EAJ / PNV for Basque National Day, Alderdi Eguna 2007

Name

The party leads the Basque- Spanish double name Eusko Alderdi Jeltzalea - Partido Nacionalista Vasco. The Spanish name part ( Partido Nacionalista Vasco ) means Basque Nationalist Party and is therefore not an exact translation of the Basque name part Eusko Alderdi Jeltzalea. Sabino Arana, founder of the party and the "father " of modern Basque nationalism, summed up his political ideas even before the founding of the Party under the slogan " Jaungoikoa Eta Lagizarrak " (God and old rights ) together, which developed the acronym JEL. The followers of his ideas described themselves as Jeltzale.