The newly established Basque pro-independence coalition Bildu has been barred from participating in the elections that are to be held on May 22nd. Spanish Supreme Court yesterday ruled that Bildu (a coalition formed by two legal parties, Eusko Alkartasuna (EA) and Alternatiba, plus several independents) is linked to the militant organisation ETA and to its outlawed political wing, Batasuna. Nine judges supported banning Bildu, while six were opposed and one was partially opposed.

This means that Bildu will not be able to contest seats in the Parliament of Navarre or in the Juntas Generales/Batzar Nagusiak (representative assemblies) of Basque foral territories of Biscay, Gipuzkoa and Araba. The coalition has also been barred from local elections.

Bildu's reaction has been immediate. The coalition's leaders have argued this morning that the court ruling is a "democratic abuse" by the two main Spanish political parties (the socialists, PSOE, and the conservatives, PP), who were both opposed to Bildu running in the elections. The pro-independence coalition is going to appeal to the Spanish Constitutional Court against the ruling and might later appeal to the Strasbourg Court.

Alleged links to Batasuna members

The ruling says that most of the independent candidates are linked to former members of outlawed party Batasuna. But the text that the Supreme Court has passed also (and unusually) analyses issues like the proportion of the composition of Bildu's lists of candidates. Thus, the ruling criticizes the fact that independents have better places on some coalition lists than members of EA and Alternatiba. Astonishingly, the ruling also condemns the fact that Bildu rejects ETA violence: according to the judges, Bildu only opposes violence because ETA has instructed them to do so.

Basque organizations are preparing a social mobilization to oppose the ruling. One of these organizations is the citizen network Lokarri. According to them, the decision is "unfair" and it is impossible to defend it from a legal or constitutional point of view.

On the other side, PP, PSOE and the Spanish Government have supported Bildu's exclusion from the elections, as has done the Association of Victims of Terrorism (AVT), which is fiercely opposed to any kind of negotiation with ETA.

Further information:

• EiTB: Spain's Supreme Court bars 'Bildu' from elections
• Reuters: Spain bars ETA-linked candidates from elections
• Information about the Basque process (pro-independence oriented site)