EH Bildu

EH Bildu, short for Euskal Herria Bildu (English: Basque Country Gather[1][7][8][9][10] or Basque Country Unite[11][12]) is a leftist,[13] Basque nationalist, pro-independence[1] political coalition active in the Spanish autonomous communities of Basque Country and Navarre.

Basque Country Gather Euskal Herria Bildu
Leader	Arnaldo Otegi
Spokesperson in the Basque Parliament	Maddalen Iriarte
Spokesperson in the Parliament of Navarre	Bakartxo Ruiz
Founded	3 April 2011 (Bildu) 10 June 2012 (EH Bildu)
Merger of	Aralar (until 2017) Eusko Alkartasuna Alternatiba Sortu
Headquarters	C/ Pilotegi, 2 20018, Donostia-San Sebastián
Ideology	Basque nationalism Basque independence[1] Socialism[1] Progressivism Left-wing nationalism (Abertzale left)
Political position	Left-wing[2][3] to far-left[4][5]
National affiliation	Amaiur (2011–15) Ahora Repúblicas (2019–present)
Regional affiliation	Cambio-Aldaketa (2015–16; 2019)
European Parliament group	European United Left–Nordic Green Left
Colors	Yellow-green
Congress of Deputies (Basque and Navarrese seats)	5 / 23
Spanish Senate (Basque and Navarrese seats)	2 / 20
European Parliament (Spanish seats)	1 / 59
Basque Parliament	21 / 75
Parliament of Navarre	7 / 50
Juntas Generales	39 / 153
Mayors (2019–2023)[6][lower-alpha 1]	120 / 525
Local government (2019–2023)[lower-alpha 1]	1,254 / 4,663
Website
www.ehbildu.eus
Politics of Spain Political parties Elections

EHB's predecessor Bildu ("Gather") was launched on 3 April 2011 to participate in the May 2011 local elections[14] It was formed as a reaction to the Supreme Court of Spain's ruling in March 2011 that barred the new left-wing Basque nationalist (Abertzale left) Sortu party from electoral participation. Bildu was an alliance of the centre-left Eusko Alkartasuna, left-wing Alternatiba and independents of the left-wing nationalist spectrum, many of whom former members or supporters of the outlawed Batasuna party.

EHB was launched on 10 June 2012 in San Sebastián by five founding components: Eusko Alkartasuna, Aralar, Alternatiba, Sortu, and independents of the Abertzale left (groups and independent individuals from the Basque leftist-nationalist milieu, many of whom had been members of Batasuna), all of whom had been previously members of the Amaiur coalition.[15] On 3 July 2012 Laura Mintegi was chosen as candidate for Lehendakari in the 2012 Basque parliamentary election.[16] Mintegi, a professor at the University of the Basque Country, formerly stood as a candidate for Herri Batasuna.[17]

History

Formation of Bildu

Bildu was formed as a response to the March 2011 ruling by the Supreme Court of Spain that banned a new Basque party called Sortu from being registered. Bildu was a coalition of the social-democratic Eusko Alkartasuna, Alternatiba (a splinter group of Ezker Batua) and independent individuals from the Basque leftist-nationalist environment, originating from the outlawed Batasuna party. Bildu was banned by the Supreme Court as well, due to their ties to Batasuna, the political wing of ETA. The decision to ban Bildu resulted in street protests in Bilbao and other cities. However, on 5 May 2011, exactly the day the election campaign started off, the Constitutional Court of Spain lifted the ban and Bildu was allowed to take part in elections.[18]

2011 regional and local elections

At the 2011 local elections Bildu received 26% of the vote in the Basque region, coming second only to the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV).[19] The party won seats in most of the councils of the Southern Basque Country, including San Sebastián (where it came up first), Bilbao, Vitoria-Gasteiz and Pamplona.

2011 general election

For the 2011 general election Eusko Alkartasuna, Alternatiba and their allies formed a new alliance, under the name Amaiur, along with Aralar, previously part of Nafarroa Bai, and other abertzale (i.e., Basque nationalist) groups.

2012 Basque Parliament Elections

In the election for the Basque Parliament that took place on 21 October 2012, EH Bildu the second most seats after the more established EAJ-PNV.[20][21] The coalition party won 21 out of 75 seats with 25% of the popular vote. No single party won a majority in this election.

2014 European Parliament election

In the 2014 European Parliament election EH Bildu participated as part of the list The Peoples Decide (LPD), comprising left-wing nationalist and separatist parties from several autonomous regions of Spain. On the first position of that list was EHB member Josu Juaristi who was elected member of the European parliament. He joined the group of the European United Left–Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL).

Electoral performance

Basque Parliament

Basque Parliament
Election	Votes	%	#	Seats	+/–	Leading candidate	Status in legislature
2012	277,923	24.67%	2nd	21 / 75	16[lower-alpha 2]	Laura Mintegi	Opposition
2016	225,172	21.13%	2nd	18 / 75	3	Arnaldo Otegi[lower-alpha 3]	Opposition
2020	249,580	27.60%	2nd	21 / 75	3	Maddalen Iriarte	Opposition

Parliament of Navarre

Parliament of Navarre
Election	Votes	%	#	Seats	+/–	Leading candidate	Status in legislature
2011	42,916	13.28%	4th	7 / 50	7	Maiorga Ramírez	Opposition
2015	48,166	14.25%	3rd	8 / 50	1	Adolfo Araiz	Coalition (GBai–EH Bildu–IE)
2019	50,631	14.54%	4th	7 / 50	1	Bakartxo Ruiz	Opposition

Nationwide

Cortes Generales
Election	Congress					Senate		Status in legislature
	Vote	%	Score	Seats	+/–	Seats	+/–
2015	219,125	0.87%	10th	2 / 350	5[lower-alpha 4]	0 / 208	2[lower-alpha 4]	Opposition
2016	184,713	0.77%	9th	2 / 350	0	0 / 208	0	Opposition
2019 (Apr)	259,647	0.99%	10th	4 / 350	2	1 / 208	1	Opposition
2019 (Nov)	277,621	1.14%	10th	5 / 350	1	1 / 208	0	Opposition

Regional breakdown

Election Basque Country Congress Senate Votes % # Seats +/– Seats +/– 2015 184,186 15.06% 3rd 2 / 18 4[lower-alpha 4] 0 / 12 2[lower-alpha 4] 2016 153,339 13.28% 4th 2 / 18 0 0 / 12 0 2019 (Apr) 212,882 16.68% 4th 4 / 18 2 1 / 12 1 2019 (Nov) 221,073 18.67% 3rd 4 / 18 0 1 / 12 0

Election Navarre Congress Senate Votes % # Seats +/– Seats +/– 2015 34,939 9.89% 4th 0 / 5 1[lower-alpha 4] 0 / 4 0[lower-alpha 4] 2016 31,374 9.36% 4th 0 / 5 0 0 / 4 0 2019 (Apr) 46,765 12.74% 4th 0 / 5 0 0 / 4 0 2019 (Nov) 56,548 16.88% 3rd 1 / 5 1 0 / 4 0

European Parliament

European Parliament
Election	Total					Basque Country			Navarre
	Votes	%	#	Seats	+/–	Votes	%	#	Votes	%	#
2014	Within LPD			1 / 54	1	177,694	23.36%	2nd	44,129	20.21%	2nd
2019	Within AR			1 / 54	0	246,937	22.01%	2nd	54,406	15.99%	3rd

Notes

1. Results in the Basque Autonomous Community, Navarre and the Enclave of Treviño.
2. Compared to the combined totals of Aralar and Eusko Alkartasuna in the 2009 regional election.
3. Sortu Secretary-General Arnaldo Otegi was proclaimed as EH Bildu's leading candidate on 24 May 2016, having left the Logroño prison on 1 March after serving his full prison sentence imposed for attempting to reorganize the banned Batasuna party. On 24 August, the Gipuzkoa Provincial Electoral Commission disqualified Otegi due to a legal barring from holding any public office still in force until 2021. Subsequently, EH Bildu did not elect an alternative candidate to replace Otegi, though journalist Maddalen Iriarte—second in EH Bildu Gipuzkoa's list—went on to top the list as provided for in Article 65.2 of the Electoral Law of the Basque Country.
4. Compared to Amaiur totals in the 2011 general election.

References

1. Nordsieck, Wolfram (2020). "Basque Country/Spain". Parties and Elections in Europe. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
2. Kassam, Ashifa (4 November 2015). "Basque secessionists follow Catalans in push for independence". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
3. Hedgecoe, Guy (16 November 2016). "Spain exhumes conspirators whose coup sparked civil war". The Irish Times. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
4. Gorospe, Pedro (7 February 2018). "Basque ruling party wants to include "right to decide" in new regional charter". El País. Retrieved 11 November 2019. There are three Basque parties that defend the right to decide: the PNV, Podemos and EH Bildu (a far-left coalition that includes ex-members of Batasuna, considered the political wing of the terrorist organization ETA)
5. Angela Bourne, Democratic Dilemmas: Why democracies ban political parties, First Edition, Routledge, Abingdon, 2018, p. 47
6. Gehiengoak maximizatzen. Berria, 16/06/2019.
7. Sanjay Jeram; Daniele Conversi (2014). Deliberation and Democracy at the End of Armed Conflict: Postconflict Opportunities in the Basque Country. Democratic Deliberation in Deeply Divided Societies: From Conflict to Common Ground. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 53.
8. David Lublin (2014). Minority Rules: Electoral Systems, Decentralization, and Ethnoregional Party Success. Oxford University Press. p. 197.
9. Santiago Pérez-Nievas; Teresa Mata López (2013). "The 2012 Basque Country Regional Election: Back to Nationalist Rule in the Context of the Economic Crisis" (PDF). Asociación Española de Ciencia Política y de la Administración (AECPA). Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
10. Ryan Barnes (10 January 2013). "Basque and Catalan Nationalism: An Evolution". Fair Observer.
11. "Basque party snubs vote condemning Paris attack". TheLocal.es. 9 January 2015.
12. Tim Lewis (22 March 2015). "Another Country: Inside The Basque Region". Esquire.
13. Morel, Sandrine (25 September 2016). "En Espagne, le parti de Rajoy renforcé par des régionales en Galice et au Pays basque". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 26 November 2017.
14. (in Spanish) "Bildu presenta las bases de su programa electoral para el 22-M", Gara, 2011-04-03. Retrieved 2011-04-05.
15. http://ccaa.elpais.com/ccaa/2012/06/09/paisvasco/1339264728_612106.html
16. http://www.lavanguardia.com/politica/20120702/54319662264/laura-mintegi-candidata-lehendakari-coalicion-abertzale-euskal-herria-bildu.html
17. http://ccaa.elpais.com/ccaa/2012/07/03/paisvasco/1341335309_343791.html
18. "Spanish Constitutional Court lifts ban on Bildu". Xinhua News. Retrieved 2011-05-24.
19. "New Basque Coalition Bildu Surges in Basque Local Elections". Eitb.com. Archived from the original on 2011-05-28. Retrieved 2011-05-24.
20. EFE (22 October 2012). "Urkullu asume desde hoy el reto de llegar a acuerdos con otros partidos". El Mundo (in Spanish). Bilbao: Unidad Editorial Información General S.L.U. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
21. "Elecciones Parlamento Vasco". EITB (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 May 2019.