[A-List] Spain: Basque autonomy plan

["Michael Keaney" <michael.keaney@xxxxxx>]

Basque plan is treason, say critics

Giles Tremlett in Madrid
Monday October 27, 2003
The Guardian

Battle was joined yesterday over what some warned would be the future
disintegration of the Spanish state, after the Basque regional premier, Juan
José Ibarretxe, formally presented a referendum proposal to convert his
troubled region into a "free associate" of Spain.

The so-called "Ibarretxe plan" was denounced as "treason" by the deputy
prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, the man chosen to lead prime minister José
María Aznar's conservative People's party at next year's general election.

Mr Rajoy compared Mr Ibarretxe's campaign to change the political
relationship between Basques and other Spaniards to the terror campaign of
the armed separatist group Eta. "It assumes the same objectives as Eta," he
declared.

Spain's other main party, the Socialists, said it would oppose the plan as
national newspapers in Madrid issued warnings of a threat to the very nature
of the Spanish state.

El Mundo said in an editorial: "The approval by the Basque government of the
Ibarretxe plan is equivalent to the unilateral declarations of Slovenia and
Croatia which ended with the disintegration of Yugoslavia." The plan was
approved by Mr Ibarretxe's cabinet of Basque nationalists on Saturday.

Support for the plan was limited mostly to Basque nationalists and
separatists, who jointly won 53% of the Basque vote at regional elections in
2001.

Mr Ibarretxe proposed a radical change in the relationship between Spain and
the Basque region under the novel formula of creating a "Basque community"
that would be "freely associated" to Spain and would enjoy a right to
self-determination.

Under the plan, the two million people in this northern region would remain
Spanish citizens but would be divided into two overlapping cate gories of
Basques, defined as "citizens" and "nationals".

The plan did not spell out the different rights of the two categories but it
seemed possible that, for example, it might lead to Spaniards who move to
the Basque country being barred from voting in some elections.

The already powerful Basque regional government would gain further powers,
and the Basque court system would be largely separated from the Spanish one.

The plan would give the Basque regional government the right to call
referendums, opening the door to a possible future vote on independence,
while removing a Spanish government right to suspend the regional
government's powers.

"It is a terrible sarcasm to call the Ibarretxe plan a project for better
coexistence, when it is exactly the opposite," Mr Rajoy said.

Mr Ibarretxe has proposed postponing a Basque parliament vote on the plan
until the end of next year, after which he hoped to spend six months
negotiating with Madrid before calling a referendum in spring 2005.

The plan was welcomed by separatists. "The best bits of the plan are those
that have been copied from us," said Arnaldo Otegi, leader of the now banned
separatist party Batasuna, which supported Eta.

Mr Ibarretxe's critics said the plan was anti-constitutional. The People's
party has announced it will be fought through the courts if necessary. Mr
Ibarretxe claimed the plan was simply an attempt to reform the 1979 statute
defining the powers of the Basque country's semi-autonomous government.

Observers warned that the Basque government was not, legally, allowed to
call referendums and that changes to the constitution required the approval
of at least 60% of the Madrid parliament.