Eusko Abertzale Ekintza

Eusko Abertzale Ekintza - Acción Nacionalista Vasca (EAE-ANV) (Basque Nationalist Action) was the first Basque Nationalist political party to exist that presented itself on a socialist platform.

It was formed in 1930, as a reaction to the merger of the Basque Nationalist Party with the conservative "Comunión Nacionalista Vasca". It played a minor role during the Republic and in the Civil War. Since 1977 onwards, it has run in several elections as part of the electoral platforms of the Basque National Liberation Movement. It did not belong to KAS though. Thus, when another Basque pro-independence party, Batasuna, was banned by the Spanish Supreme Court in 2002 after government allegations of its close relationship to ETA, EAE-ANV remained as a legal party.

Nevertheless, in the 2007 municipal and provincial elections in Spain, nearly half of the lists of EAE-ANV were declared illegal, because a significant portion of the candidates on them had previously run for Batasuna, EH or HB, despite the fact that they were perfectly legal when they did so. The Supreme Court resolved that they contained an illegal party (Batasuna), and therefore were ineligible. The decision was made in a hurry with little time (24 hours) for appeal on the part of the party, so it has been claimed that a "Presumption of Guilt" was applied on the grounds of an "ex-ante" statement of guilt that remained to be properly proven in due time. [cite news|url=http://www.gara.net/paperezkoa/20070507/16875/es/380/listas/vetadas/porque/candidatos/pertenecen/a/la/izquierda/abertzale/|publisher=Gara|title= 380 Listas Vetadas porque Candidatos Pertenecen a la Izquierda Abertzale|date=2007-05-07|accessdate=2008-06-20 Article in Spanish] However, EAE-ANV took part in the campaign, and received some 187,000 votes (many of which were considered null). Among the illegal lists were those of Bilbao, San Sebastian and Vitoria; but not those of Pamplona city council, where EAE-ANV has two representatives.

As of February 2008, the Spanish government declared EAE-ANV illegal as a precautionary measure to prevent them from taking part in the General Election . [cite news|url=http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/Garzon/asfixia/entorno/ETA/elpepiesp/20080209elpepinac_1/Tes|publisher=El Pais|title=Garzón asfixia al entorno de ETA|date=2008-02-09|accessdate=2008-02-11]

On September 16, 2008, the party was outlawed by the Spanish Supreme Court.

References

External links

* [http://www.eae-anv.org EAE-ANV website]