Francisco Javier "Patxi" López Álvarez (; born 4 October 1959) is a Spanish politician serving as Member of the Congress of Deputies and chair of the Constitutional Committee. He has only completed secondary education but never graduated from college. Previously, he has served as President of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country from 2009 to 2012 and President of the Congress of Deputies, the lower house of the Spanish

Cortes Generales The (; ) are the Bicameralism, bicameral legislative chambers of Spain, consisting of the Congress of Deputies (the lower house) and the Senate of Spain, Senate (the upper house). The Congress of Deputies meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, ...

, in the short lived 11th legislature from January 2016 to July 2016. He was also

Secretary-General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

of the Socialist Party of Euskadi – Euskadiko Ezkerra (PSE-EE), the Basque affiliate of the

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( , PSOE ) is a Social democracy, social democratic Updated as required.The PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * List of political parties in Spain, political party ...

(PSOE), from 2002 to 2014.

Political career

López, born into a socialist family, was influenced early in life by the political stance of his father, Eduardo López Albizu, a prominent Spanish left-wing anti-Francoist activist. He joined the Young Basque Socialist movement in 1975, and was its Secretary-General from 1985 to 1988. He joined PSE in 1977, and was elected to the

Spanish Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies () is the lower house of the , Spain's legislative branch, the upper house being the Senate of Spain, Senate. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid. Congress has ...

at the 1986 General Election representing Vizcaya Province. In the PSE he rose steadily to prominence before being elected Secretary-General in 1997, having become a Member of the

Basque Parliament The Basque Parliament (Basque language, Basque: ''Eusko Legebiltzarra'', Spanish language, Spanish: ''Parlamento Vasco'') is the legislative body of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community of Spain and the elected ...

in 1991. He is known for his opposition to Basque independence. In 2005, he was the PSE-EE's candidate for the presidency of the Basque Country, but lost out to Juan José Ibarretxe of the

Basque Nationalist Party The Basque Nationalist Party ( , EAJ; , PNV; , PNB; EAJ-PNV), officially the Basque National Party in English, is a Basque nationalist and regionalist political party. The party is located in the centre of the political spectrum. It has been de ...

(PNV). In the 2009 election, the Nationalist Party was the party with the most votes with 30 seats, followed by the Socialist Party, with 25 seats. The illegalisation of a party representing a sizeable voting segment, the Left Basque Nationalist Party

Batasuna Batasuna (; ) was a Basque nationalist political party. Based mainly in Spain, it was banned in 2003, after a court ruling declared proven that the party was financing ETA with public money. The party is included in the "European Union list of ...

, enabled the socialists to reach an agreement with the People's Party for López to be elected as ''

Lehendakari The President of the Basque Government (, ), usually known in the Basque language as the Lehendakari (, ), is the head of government of the Basque Autonomous Community. The lehendakari leads the executive branch of the regional government. T ...

'' (Basque president). He was elected to the position on 5 May 2009 in the

, effectively ending thirty years of Basque nationalist rule in the Basque Country, in what was perceived as a controversial election due to the absence of any party representing the secessionist Left Basque Nationalist spectrum. On 13 January 2016, he was elected President of the

Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies () is the lower house of the , Spain's legislative branch, the upper house being the Senate of Spain, Senate. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid. Congress has ...

for the short eleventh legislature, with 130 votes (the deputies of PSOE and

Citizens Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state. Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationality; ...

) out of 350.

References

External links

Patxi López Blog
, - , - 1959 births Living people Members of the 4th Basque Parliament Members of the 5th Basque Parliament Members of the 6th Basque Parliament Members of the 7th Basque Parliament Members of the 8th Basque Parliament Members of the 9th Basque Parliament Members of the 10th Basque Parliament Members of the 3rd Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 12th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 11th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 13th Congress of Deputies (Spain) People from Portugalete Presidents of the Basque Government Presidents of the Congress of Deputies (Spain) Spanish Socialist Workers' Party politicians Members of the 14th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 15th Congress of Deputies (Spain) {{BasqueCountry-politician-stub