Spain's Basque region to hold elections March 1

The Associated Press

Friday, January 2, 2009

MADRID, Spain: Spain's troubled Basque territory is to hold regional parliament elections March 1, the head of the local government said Friday.

The move comes after Basque President Juan Jose Ibarretxe's Nationalist Party failed to secure a referendum last fall seen as a step toward self-determination.

Spain's Constitutional Court, the country's highest tribunal, ruled unanimously in September that such a referendum could not take place. The decision undermined confidence in Ibarretxe's government, which has ruled the Basque region for 28 years, largely in coalition with other parties.

Ibarretxe, who firmly opposes the armed separatist group ETA but favors talks with them, had argued that the referendum would give people a say in how to end the conflict, which has killed some 825 people since 1968. He also argued the referendum was not unconstitutional because it was not binding.

But the government in Madrid had described the vote as a veiled push for outright independence for a region that already enjoys a great degree of autonomy, with power over its finances, its own police force and control over education, health care and cultural issues.

The court said only Spain's central government can convene referendums. It also said that the possibility of changing the Basque region's relationship with the rest of Spain must be decided by all Spaniards, not just Basques.

The Basque region is one of Spain's 17 semiautonomous areas.