Herri Batasuna (; en, Popular Unity; HB) was a

far-left Far-left politics, also known as the radical left or the extreme left, are politics further to the left on the left–right political spectrum than the standard political left. The term does not have a single definition. Some scholars conside ...

Basque nationalist Basque nationalism ( eu, eusko abertzaletasuna ; es, nacionalismo vasco; french: nationalisme basque) is a form of nationalism that asserts that Basques, an ethnic group indigenous to the western Pyrenees, are a nation and promotes the po ...

coalition in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

. It was founded in 1978 and defined itself as abertzale,

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

, and supported the independence of the Greater Basque Country. It was refounded as Batasuna in 2001 and subsequently outlawed by the Spanish

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for being considered the political wing of the separatist group Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA).

History

The party was founded in April 1978 as Herri Batasuna, a coalition of leftist nationalist political groups initially brought together to advocate for "No" in the referendum to be held that year on the

Spanish constitution The Spanish Constitution (Spanish, Asturleonese, and gl, Constitución Española; eu, Espainiako Konstituzioa; ca, Constitució Espanyola; oc, Constitucion espanhòla) is the democratic law that is supreme in the Kingdom of Spain. It was ...

. Its constituent parties had been called together by senior Basque nationalist Telesforo de Monzón in a 1978 meeting called "The table of Alsasua". Herri Batasuna's founding convention was held in Lekeitio, home of Santiago Brouard, who was then the leader of HASI (Herriko Alderdi Sozialista Iraultzailea or Revolutionary Socialist People's Party). The party won 150,000 votes in the Basque Country (15%) and 22,000 additional votes in Navarre (9%) in its first Spanish general election in March 1979. Thus, they won three seats in the Spanish Parliament, which they did not occupy. The same happened in 1980 in the first elections to the Basque Parliament, in which HB stood as a second political force, with 151,636 votes (16.55%), winning 11 seats. Its absence allowed a BNP-only Basque government led by Carlos Garaikoetxea. On 20 November 1984, Brouard was assassinated by two members of the GAL. The killing is perhaps the only one performed by the GAL

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within Spain itself. Another well-known Herri Batasuna leader, Josu Muguruza, was also killed by members of the neo-fascist Bases Autónomas in 1989, while he was in a hotel in

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. He was a congressman in the Spanish Parliament when he was assassinated.

Electoral performance

Since its foundation, Herri Batasuna ran for every election in the Basque Country and in Navarre, as well as in Spanish general elections (from 1979 to 1996) and the European elections of 1987, 1989 and 1994. In the

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, it supported abstention. In the elections held from 1998 to 2001 it was part of the coalition Euskal Herritarrok. Herri Batasuna refused to participate in many of the institutions it won seats in, with the exception of local town halls.

Spanish general elections

References

Bibliography

* {{Authority control Political parties in the Basque Country (autonomous community) Banned secessionist parties Banned socialist parties Basque conflict Basque history Political parties established in 1978 Political parties disestablished in 2001 Politics of Spain Pro-independence parties Secessionist organizations in Europe Socialist parties in Spain 1978 establishments in Spain Political parties in Navarre Banned political parties in the Basque Country (autonomous community) Organisations based in Bilbao