Basque Info: Bildu banned

Bildu is an electoral coalition created by Eusko Alkartasuna (Basque social democrats - founding members of European Free Alliance) and Alternatiba (Local pro-sovereignty split from the United Left) for the coming local and provincial elections (22nd May). This coalition is open to pro-independence left independent candidates, which share its political project and want to work for peace and normalisation in the Basque Country.

The coalition, founded by two unequivocally democratic parties, has clearly rejected violence and asked ETA to put an end to violence. Furthermore all the candidates of the coalition have signed an Ethical Decalogue including an unequivocal rejection of violence.

However the Supreme Court has banned Bildu on the Spanish Government’s request, and has denied its right to context elections. This banning is based upon the theory that all the independent candidates in the coalition are Batasuna-friendly or have been chosen by Batasuna. And so the whole electoral coalition is under ETA’s orders. Even more the ruling argues that the rejection of violence of Bildu has been ordered by ETA itself.

On a Press Conference today Bildu’s spokespersons denounced that the ban on their candidatures is a political decision that will distort the representation of the democratic will of citizens and violates the right to freely chose ideas and candidates.

The spokespersons have stressed that this ban won’t stop their work for the resolution of the conflict and they have called on Basque citizens to stand up against these attacks.

Bildu appealed to the Constitutional Court, which has to take a decision by midnight when the campaign begins.