Aralar
Aralar was a Basque left- wing nationalist party in the Spanish Basque Country and the Spanish autonomous region of Navarre . The party's name comes from the Sierra de Aralar , a low mountain range that stretches across parts of the Basque province of Gipuzkoa and Navarre, and documents the claim of Basque nationalism to all areas with Basque- speaking settlement areas.
history
Aralar emerged in the 1990s as a moderate, critical movement within the ETA -related Batasuna party and its successor Euskal Herritarok (EH) under the leadership of Patxi Zabaleta. After ETA broke the armistice in 2000, there was a heated debate within the EH about the further path of left patriotism in the Basque Country and a dispute about the internal organization, which ultimately led to the separation of Aralar as an independent party.
Aralar took part in the Spanish parliamentary elections in 2004 , but remained without a seat in the electoral district of the Basque Country. In Navarre , Aralar participated in the joint candidacy of Nafarroa Bai (Eng. "Yes to Navarre"), which unites several Basque nationalist parties (in addition to Aralar: PNV , EA , Batzarre and Independents) and who won a seat in the Spanish Parliament for the independent candidate Uxue Barkos Berruezo . In the 2008 elections , Nafarroa Bai was able to repeat this result. For Basque nationalists, Navarre is a historical part of the Basque Country, but only part of the population of Navarre see themselves as Basques.
In the 2004 European elections , Aralar ran alone, but did not win a seat.
In November 2004 the party's second congress took place in Donostia (Spanish: San Sebastián ), in which Patxi Zabaleta was confirmed as party leader and the youth organization Iratzarri (Basque: "Wake up!") Was founded. For the time being, the members decided to go their own way as an independent party.
At the regional level, it was initially difficult for Aralar in the Basque Country to assert itself against the radical left-wing Basque nationalist parties. In the Basque regional elections in 2005 it came to 2.3% and moved into parliament with one seat for MP Aintzane Ezenarro from the province of Gipuzkoa - the ETA- affiliated Batasuna successor party EHAK , on the other hand, got 12.5% and 9 seats. It was only after the EHAK was banned at the end of 2008 that Aralar managed to distinguish itself as an alternative for the left-wing nationalist spectrum: In the Basque regional elections in 2009, it achieved 6.1% and four MPs.
The party dissolved at the end of 2017.
ideology
The members of Aralar describe themselves as left-wing Basque nationalists. On the one hand, they stand up for democracy and socialism and are close to anti-globalization and environmental protection movements; on the other hand, they represent the independence of the historic Basque Country as a republic through its recognition as a people and the right to self-determination. Aralar rejects the violence of the state (police and military) as well as that of the ETA; unlike Batasuna and its successor parties, Aralar repeatedly criticizes individual assassinations. Aralar propagates civil disobedience and the way through democratic institutions as a weapon for independence.
Since Aralar differs from ETA and the parties close to ETA only in the means it propagates, not in the political goals, it is considered by both the moderate Basque nationalists ( PNV and EA ) and the pan-Spanish parties ( PSOE and PP ) as criticized mere cosmetics of radical nationalism. However, due to Aralar's open rejection of the ETA violence, a ban has not yet been considered.
Web links
- www.aralar.net (Basque and Spanish)
- Youth organization Iratzarri (Basque and Spanish)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Aralar anuncia su disolución para fortalecer EH Bildu y convertirlo en un partido. In: eldiario.es. September 13, 2017, Retrieved March 27, 2019 (Spanish).