The Socialist Party of the Basque Country–Basque Country Left ( eu, Euskadiko Alderdi Sozialista – Euskadiko Ezkerra, es, Partido Socialista de Euskadi – Euskadiko Ezkerra, PSE-EE) is a
social-democratic political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...
in the
Basque Country that acts as the regional affiliate of the
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources:
*
*
*
* political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gove ...
(PSOE).
History
Although local Socialist groups had been active since 1886, and many affiliated with the PSOE (being
Biscay
Biscay (; eu, Bizkaia ; es, Vizcaya ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao.
B ...
one of the strongholds of Spanish social democracy, along with
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...
and
Asturias
Asturias (, ; ast, Asturies ), officially the Principality of Asturias ( es, Principado de Asturias; ast, Principáu d'Asturies; Galician-Asturian: ''Principao d'Asturias''), is an autonomous community in northwest Spain.
It is coextensiv ...
), the PSE was actually established as a branch of the main party only in 1977, during the
Spanish transition to democracy, initiated by King
Juan Carlos I of Spain
Juan Carlos I (;,
* ca, Joan Carles I,
* gl, Xoán Carlos I, Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 Novem ...
.
During the violent years of the 1980s in the
Basque Country, mid- and high-ranking party officials held government positions in Spain and the region, as civil governors. The Basque nationalist left—
Herri Batasuna
Herri Batasuna (; en, Popular Unity; HB) was a far-left Basque nationalist coalition in Spain. It was founded in 1978 and defined itself as abertzale, left-wing, socialist, and supported the independence of the Greater Basque Country. It was r ...
and related groups—denounced during that period the collusion of the party with police abuses—especially pointing to the Guardia Civil—and in early 1984 blamed directly the Socialists for the
state terrorism
State terrorism refers to acts of terrorism which a state conducts against another state or against its own citizens.Martin, 2006: p. 111.
Definition
There is neither an academic nor an international legal consensus regarding the proper def ...
of the
GAL death squads (1984-1987).
In early 1990s some of them were convicted for their participation in it. Ricardo Damborenea, head of the party in Biscay, even confessed in a press release to his involvement in the criminal pursuit in the early 1990s. All of them have been released from prison much earlier than their due term without apologising for their illegal actions; Damborenea currently gets a substantial monthly allowance from the Spanish state.
It has local associations in
Gipuzkoa
Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzcoa ; french: Guipuscoa) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French depa ...
,
Biscay
Biscay (; eu, Bizkaia ; es, Vizcaya ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao.
B ...
, and
Álava
Álava ( in Spanish) or Araba (), officially Araba/Álava, is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Álava, former medieval Catholic bishopric and now Latin titular see.
Its c ...
. Before June 1982, it also included a
Navarre branch - which formed the
Socialist Party of Navarre
The Socialist Party of Navarre (, ) is a regional branch of the mainstream Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), the main centre-left party in Spain since the 1970s.
History
The party can trace its history to the founding of a socialist suppo ...
, PSN (PSOE).
Initially in a close alliance with the
Basque Country Left (EE), a party connected with
Basque nationalism
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 poli ...
, begun in 1991 with a move promoted by the respective secretaries -
Ramón Jáuregui for the PSE and
Mario Onaindia for the EE. It aimed to become the major Basque force in the
1993 election. The fusion of the two groups was made possible by the split of
Basque Left from EE: prepared by the leadership of
Nicolás Redondo Terreros (1998–2002), it was confirmed with the mandate of
Patxi López
Francisco Javier "Patxi" López Álvarez (; born 4 October 1959) is a Spanish politician serving as Member of the Congress of Deputies and chair of the Constitutional Committee.
Previously, he has served as President of the Autonomous Communi ...
in 2002.
During the 2012 elections to the parliament of the Basque Autonomous Community, the PSE-EE came up third in number of MPs (16), lagging behind the
Basque Nationalist Party and
EH Bildu
EH Bildu, short for Euskal Herria Bildu ( en, link=yes, Basque Country Gather or Basque Country Unite) is a left-wing, Basque nationalist, pro-independence political coalition active in the Spanish autonomous communities of Basque Country, Nava ...
. Throughout its recent history, it fluctuated between second and third, depending on the success of the
People's Party or the
''Abertzale'' Left).
Electoral performance
Basque Parliament
Cortes Generales
European Parliament
Notes
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Socialist Party Of The Basque Country - Basque Country Left
1977 establishments in Spain
Basque Country
Political parties established in 1977
Socialist parties in the Basque Country (autonomous community)
Organisations based in Bilbao