The proposed 2008 referendum was a poll intended to occur in the
Basque Country in that year, but prevented by the
Supreme Court of Spain at the instigation of the Spanish Government.
The poll was to be a consultative
referendum
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
, in which two questions were put to the electorate, concerning self-determination from
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
. It was scheduled for 25 October 2008 but the Spanish government challenged the decision to hold the vote in the
Constitutional Court of Spain, which ruled on 11 September 2008 that the referendum call was against the law. In turn, the PNV (
Basque Nationalist Party) appealed against this ruling, to the
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that ...
, which later upheld the Spanish Constitutional Court ruling in February 2010.
The 2008 referendum was proposed by former ''
lehendakari
The President of the Basque Government ( eu, Eusko Jaurlaritzako lehendakaria, es, presidente del Gobierno Vasco), usually known in the Basque language as the Lehendakari ( eu, lehendakari, es, lendakari), is the head of government of the Basq ...
'' (president of the Basque country
autonomous community
eu, autonomia erkidegoa
ca, comunitat autònoma
gl, comunidade autónoma
oc, comunautat autonòma
an, comunidat autonoma
ast, comunidá autónoma
, alt_name =
, map =
, category = Autonomous administra ...
)
Juan José Ibarretxe. The first question was to concern whether to engage in talks with
ETA
Eta (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἦτα ''ē̂ta'' or ell, ήτα ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative in most dialects, ...
; the second was to be on whether there should be a political debate on the "right to decide about the Basque people", a coded reference to the issue of whether the Basque Country should remain in Spain.
Creation
The referendum-like vote was announced on 28 September 2007 by
Juan José Ibarretxe, with the support of the three-party coalition that made up his government: the
Basque Nationalist Party (Ibarretxe's own),
Eusko Alkartasuna
Eusko Alkartasuna (; en, Basque Solidarity; es, Solidaridad Vasca; french: Solidarité basque) is a Basque nationalist and social-democratic political party operating in Spain and France. The Basque language name means ''Basque Solidarity'' an ...
and
Ezker Batua Berdeak. The lone
Aralar MP also supported the call while the Basque branches of both
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources:
*
*
*
* political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gove ...
and conservative
People's Party rejected it. This made a 33-33 tie at the Basque regional Parliament.
On 27 June 2008, the referendum call was approved by the
Basque Parliament
The Basque Parliament ( Basque: ''Eusko Legebiltzarra'', Spanish: ''Parlamento Vasco'') is the legislative body of the Basque Autonomous Community of Spain and the elected assembly to which the Basque Government is responsible.
The Parliament ...
narrowly by 34 to 33, and 7 abstentions. To break the existing 33 to 33 vote tie at the Basque autonomous Parliament, the referendum call received the tactical support of one of the
EHAK
The Communist Party of the Basque Homelands ( eu, Euskal Herrialdeetako Alderdi Komunista, EHAK; es, Partido Comunista de las Tierras Vascas, PCTV) was a communist Basque separatist party in the Basque Country, Spain. The party was outlawed by ...
MPs, considered by a Basque PP councillor as ETA's political arm, while the other 7 MPs of this party abstained.
Ibarretxe preferred to call the vote a "consultation" rather than a referendum
and stated he would negotiate its terms with the
Spanish central government until June 2008 and then would submit a possible mutually accepted plan to a binding referendum; should the negotiations fail. Ibarretxe stated he would hold a non-binding referendum on the future of the Basque Country. Eventually in his plans, if his coalition still held the government, another referendum in 2010 would then decide the final status of the Basque Country. Ibarretxe stated he believes an open-ended discussion on Basque independence would help to end the conflict with
ETA
Eta (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἦτα ''ē̂ta'' or ell, ήτα ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative in most dialects, ...
.
The two questions were revealed on 28 May 2008. The questions proposed were:
First
''¿Está usted de acuerdo en apoyar un proceso de final dialogado de la violencia, si previamente ETA manifiesta de forma inequívoca su voluntad de poner fin a la misma de una vez y para siempre?''.
:Do you agree to supporting a process of dialogued end to the violence, if ETA previously declares unmistakably their will to end it once and for all?
Second
''¿Está usted de acuerdo en que los partidos vascos, sin exclusiones, inicien un proceso de negociación para alcanzar un acuerdo democrático sobre el ejercicio del derecho a decidir del Pueblo Vasco, y que dicho acuerdo sea sometido a referéndum antes de que finalice el año 2010?''
:Do you agree that the Basque parties, without exceptions, start a process of negotiation to reach a democratic agreement about the right to decide of the Basque People, and that the aforementioned agreement will be submitted to referendum before the end of the year 2010?
Those eligible to vote were the Spanish citizens registered to vote in the
Basque Country. That caused criticism from those advocating for the referendum to include
the historical Basque territories and those who asked for it to include all of
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
.
Reactions
The
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources:
*
*
*
* political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gove ...
and the
People's Party, including their Basque branches, rejected his plan, while regional nationalist parties such as the
Galician Nationalist Bloc
The Galician Nationalist Bloc ( gl, Bloque Nacionalista Galego, BNG ) is a political alliance of left-wing Galician nationalist parties. It is self-defined as a "patriotic front".
Formed in 1982, under the guidance of historical leader Xosé Man ...
and the
Republican Left of Catalonia
The Republican Left of Catalonia ( ca, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, ERC; ; generically branded as ) is a pro-Catalan independence, social-democratic political party in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia, with a presence also i ...
expressed their support.
The Basque MP
Santiago Abascal
Santiago Abascal Conde (; born 14 April 1976) is a Spanish politician and since September 2014 the leader of the national-conservative political party Vox. Abascal is a member of the Congress of Deputies representing Madrid since 2019. Before ...
, of the People's Party, caused a minor controversy at the regional parliament when he broke a piece of paper symbolising the referendum, arguing that Ibarretxe's project would break the Basque society, further dividing it.
Some within the Basque Nationalist Party itself opposed the referendum, since it was thought to strengthen ETA which at that point was declining. This part of the party included former party leader
Josu Jon Imaz
Josu Jon Imaz San Miguel is a politician, executive and scientist from Zumarraga, Basque Autonomous Community, Spain, born in 1963. He is CEO of the oil company Repsol. Doctor in Chemical Sciences from the University of the Basque Country.
He ...
or
Bilbao
)
, motto =
, image_map =
, mapsize = 275 px
, map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao
, pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe
, pushpin_map_caption ...
's mayor Iñaki Azkuna, who thought that the referendum should not be held while ETA were still active and without a general consensus to hold it in the first place.
ETA in a communique declared the referendum a fraud, still, there was speculation in
El País, citing undefined "nationalist sources", that ETA would declare a temporary, tactical and unofficial halt to armed activities in the period when the referendum was being discussed at the
Basque autonomous parliament, only to resume its attacks right after the referendum was appealed by the government before the
Constitutional Court of Spain for a
constitutionality
Constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applicable constitution. When l ...
check.
Constitutional Court
The Spanish government appealed the vote to the
Constitutional Court of Spain, thus suspending the referendum plans. The suspension occurred on 17 July 2008.
The Court ruled unanimously on 11 September 2008 that the referendum was unconstitutional, as only the central government could call such a referendum. In a ruling fraught with statements of clear political overtones, the Spanish court ruled that only Spain's central government could conduct referendums, as representative of the only rightful sovereignty holder, "the Spanish People" and "the Spanish Nation". It also establishes that the issue the Basque Government wanted to raise, the possibility of changing the
Basque Autonomous Community
The Basque Country (; eu, Euskadi ; es, País Vasco ), also called Basque Autonomous Community ( eu, Euskal Autonomia Erkidegoa, links=no, EAE; es, Comunidad Autónoma del País Vasco, links=no, CAPV), is an autonomous community of Spain. It ...
's relationship with the rest of Spain, is something the Spanish would have to decide on, not Basques on their own. The ruling at no time acknowledges the existence of the Basques, who are quoted in reported style (claimed by the appellant), as opposed to the Spanish nation.
Ibarretxe declared he respected the court ruling, while adding that the court was "acting for political reasons disguised in a legal veneer".
He subsequently called on the
Basque people and its political parties to appeal to the
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that ...
to take Spain to task over the court decision.
European Court of Human Rights
Following the
PNV's (Basque Nationalist Party) appeal, in February 2010 the
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that ...
upheld the Spanish Constitutional Court ruling,
ruling that the Spanish government had not violated the European Convention on Human Rights.
Support
On the day the vote was to have taken place, Saturday October 25, 2008, some 20,000 protesters rallied in six Basque cities demanding a referendum on proposed moves towards independence. It was intended that the vote would have allowed for a potential negotiation towards a full referendum on independence within two years. The vote followed
Kosovo's declaration of independence, supported by the EU, which had been thought by some to be influential on an independent Basque Country. Furthermore,
calls for a referendum on Scottish independence in 2010 were in line with the Basque case.
See also
*
Catalan self-determination referendum
*
2017 Catalan independence referendum
An independence referendum was held on 1 October 2017 in the Autonomous communities of Spain, Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia, passed by the Parliament of Catalonia as the Law on the Referendum on Self-determination of Catalonia and cal ...
*
Ibarretxe Plan
The Political Statute of the Community of the Basque Country, better known as the Ibarretxe Plan was a proposal by former ''lehendakari'' Juan Jose Ibarretxe to totally reform the Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country by proposing a free ass ...
References
External links
Santiago Abascal breaks a referendum paper
{{DEFAULTSORT:Basque Referendum, 2008
Cancelled referendums
Independence referendums
Political history of Spain
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
2008 in politics
2008 in Spain