THE SPANISH Constitutional Court stepped back last week from a judicial course that threatened to give the good name of Spanish democracy yet another battering in the eyes of much Basque public opinion. The judges reversed, by one vote, the recent decision by their colleagues on the Supreme Court to prevent the coalition Bildu, which supports Basque independence, from standing in municipal and provincial elections taking place on May 22nd.
There are three groups in Bildu. Two of them, Eusko Alkartasuna and Alternatiba, are parties with impeccable democratic records, and indeed have participated in Basque autonomous governments. The third element in Bildu is made up of independent candidates, many of whom are undoubtedly loyal to Batasuna, the radical Basque party banned for links to the terrorist organisation ETA in 2003.
It was the presence of these candidates in Bildu that had persuaded the Supreme Court to rule against its participation in the elections, despite the fact that every candidate had signed a statement rejecting political violence. The ban sparked outrage in the Basque Country. It was the first time that the always-contentious ban on Batasuna and its surrogate groups had been used to remove parties not remotely associated with ETA from the political arena.
Those who argued that the Batasuna ban was the thin end of an anti-democratic wedge suddenly had a much more substantial case. That case has weakened again with the lifting of the ban on Bildu. But it leaves the question of the ban on Batasuna’s most recent solo incarnation, Sortu, currently under appeal, as unresolved and thorny as ever.
Most fair-minded observers believe that the shift in Batasuna’s position is deep and permanent, and that ETA is in any case now too weak to reassert its sinister authority. Sortu’s statutes explicitly reject not only violence in general, but the violence of ETA in particular.
ETA’s impact on Spanish – and Basque – democracy has been nefarious. But that democracy is poorly served by the habitually intemperate language used by the main opposition party, the ultra-conservative Partido Popular (PP) on this and other issues.
After last week’s decision, the PP justice spokesman, said the Constitutional Court had lost the confidence of the Guardia Civil, the Police, and of all Spanish citizens. Such an attack on the judiciary reveals a disturbing line of thought, unworthy of the party likely to return to government after next year’s general elections.