Juan José Ibarretxe Markuartu (born 15 March 1957) is a former president of the

Basque Autonomous Community Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous com ...

in Spain. Also a leading member 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) during the period, he held office from 2 January 1999 to 7 May 2009. Ibarretxe is an advocate of Basque independence by peaceful means.

Origins and early political career

He was born in Llodio in the province of

Álava Álava () or Araba (), officially Araba/Álava, is a Provinces of Spain, province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, heir of the ancient Basque señoríos#Lords of Álava, Lordship ...

, and holds a degree in

Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

from the

University of the Basque Country The University of the Basque Country (, ''EHU''; , ''UPV''; officially EHU) is a Spanish public university of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community. Heir of the University of Deusto, University of Bilbao, initial ...

. In 1983 he was elected a member of the Basque Parliament for Álava, representing the PNV, and from then on rose steadily to prominence. From 1986 to 1990 and 1991-1994 he was the President of the PNV Economic and Budgetary Commission. On 4 January 1995, then Basque President José Antonio Ardanza appointed him Vice President.

Lehendakari

On 28 March 1998, he was nominated PNV presidential candidate to compete in the October 25 Basque election, and became lehendakari (president) on 2 January 1999. In October 2003 he released the highly controversial Ibarretxe Plan (''Plan Ibarretxe''), which foresaw a future Basque country freely associated with Spain, with its own separate legal system and

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

(EU) representation. In October 2007 while in office he was prosecuted for holding talks with other political agents in search for a compromise leading to peace, considered illegal by the judge for the participation of former members of Batasuna.

Private life and hobbies

Ibarretxe grew up speaking only Spanish, but now speaks

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

acceptably and English. He is an avid

cycling Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

fan and has presided over a cycling club in Llodio. He is married and has two children. He is a non-practising Roman Catholic.

References

External links

*
New Opportunities for Peace in the Basque Area: A Discussion with Juan José Ibarretxe

U.S. Institute of Peace The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) is an American independent, nonprofit, national institute funded by the U.S. Congress and tasked with promoting conflict resolution and prevention worldwide. See alsPDF on USIP website. It provides rese ...

, June 2006 (Audio, Remarks and Photos) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ibarretxe, Juan Jose 1957 births Living people Members of the 2nd Basque Parliament Members of the 3rd Basque Parliament 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 People from Álava Presidents of the Basque Government University of the Basque Country alumni Mayors of places in the Basque Country

Origins and early political career

Lehendakari

Private life and hobbies

See also

References

External links