Otegi takes for granted the "change of cycle" in the Basque Country after his victory with 15 former ETA members elected
Two convicted of terrorism will be mayors of Otxandio and Ondarroa (Vizcaya) next Saturday, June 17, and another eleven convicted for their links to ETA will take office as elected officials of EH Bildu, the fashionable coalition in Euskadi and Navarra. Its coordinator Arnaldo Otegi framed the excellent electoral results objected to last Sunday as the confirmation of a political “change of cycle” that would include the defeat of the PNV. Otegi assumed that his candidate Rocío Vitero will be mayoress of Vitoria, although yesterday he avoided any sign of condemnation of ETA terrorism to repeat the argument about “work for coexistence and peace” of the nationalist left.
“The change of cycle is a change that has already begun in our country,” Arnaldo Otegi proclaimed yesterday at the starting signal of an express negotiation to achieve three key institutions: the mayoralties of Vitoria and Pamplona and the Provincial Council of Guipúzcoa. A “political change” that involves replacing the PNV in the Basque Country in two key institutions and removing the Pamplona City Council from the Unión del Pueblo de Navarra (UPN), where Cristina Ibarrola was the most voted.
EH Bildu handles the letters of Rocío Vitero in Vitoria, Joseba Asirón in Pamplona and Maddalen Iriarte in Guipúzcoa without yet revealing how he will pressure the PSOE to facilitate these two mayoralties and their control of the Guipúzcoa Provincial Council. Otegi's political position occurred when his candidate Rocío Vitero had a first round of “courtesy” contacts in Vitoria, according to various sources, which she presented hours later as the start of negotiations with the Basque PSOE, PNV and Elkarrekin Podemos to co-govern under his leadership.
Vitero expressly avoided in a brief appearance before the media condemning ETA as the PSE-EE demands to fulfill a so-called “ethical commitment” that the socialists have established, for the moment, as a barrier to integrating into governments together with the nationalist left.. “Regarding peace and coexistence, from EH Bildu we are clear that we are always going to work for peace and coexistence,” Vitero replied, avoiding the specific question about his position on ETA terrorism.
The EH Bildu candidate in Vitoria was the great protagonist of election night for becoming the candidate with the most votes and leaving the former counselor and PNV candidate Beatriz Artolazabal in fourth place in an intense electoral battle. Governance is in the hands of the Basque PP and it will be able to allow Maider Etxebarria -the second candidate with the most votes- to be the mayoress if she ties up the support of the PNV.
The 297,000 votes obtained by Bildu in Euskadi (only 25,000 less than the PNV) allow it to multiply its institutional presence with 1,050 councilors and it will place Egoitz Garmendia (Otxandio) and Urtza Alkorta (Ondarroa) convicted of collaborating with ETA with 2-year sentences as mayors. and 5 years in prison, respectively. Another 11 members of the list of former prisoners denounced by Covite will also be appointed to public office while 2 convicted of murders also elected have promised to renounce their records.
EH Bildu will also be key to determining the future Government of Navarra after the victory of UPN in the Provincial Parliament with 15 parliamentarians compared to 11 from María Chivite's PSN. The president of UPN Javier Esparza yesterday demanded that Pedro Sánchez “clarify” before July 23 if Chivite will reissue her pact with EH Bildu to be invested as president. “The Chivite pacts are responsible for the collapse of the PSOE,” Esparza warned yesterday that he claims his status as the most voted candidate in the foral community.