Court overturns election ban on ‘Eta-linked’ Basque coalition

The ban had been imposed on the ground that some of its candidates are linked to the outlawed political wing of the armed separatist group Eta.

After a lengthy debate, the Constitutional Court voted 6-5 to let the coalition, called Bildu, field candidates in the May 22 voting. Bildu supporters erupted with joy and punched their fists into the air at a rally in a square in the main Basque city, Bilbao.

The court did not state its reasons for overturning a decision announced on Monday by the Supreme Court, after which Bildu appealed. The full verdict is expected in a few days.

Bildu is a new alliance comprising two mainstream parties and independent candidates. The Spanish government had argued before the Supreme Court that some of the independent candidates were actually fronts for Eta’s banned political wing, Batasuna.

Bildu is now allowed to field candidates in the Basque leg of nationwide local elections on May 22, and in the neighbouring Navarra region, which is also home to many Basque nationalists.

The Constitutional Court ruling appears to be good news for beleaguered Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who runs a minority government that relies in part on support from the Basque region’s main party, called the Basque Nationalist Party.

Spain’s stagnant economy and chip away at a 21 per cent unemployment rate with general elections due to be held by March of next year.