Opposition leader announces five initiatives "to defeat ETA"

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Mariano Rajoy

Conservative opposition PP leader, Mariano Rajoy, announced five initiatives his party will present in Parliament "to defeat ETA." One of them is to start the process to outlaw the Communist Party of the Basque Lands, party that makes up the Leftwing Nationalist group in the Basque Parliament. Rajoy will defend these initiatives at the Antiterrorist Pact meeting.

In a press conference after meeting conservative Navarran president at PP headquarters, Mariano Rajoy noted that the request to outlaw the Communist Party of the Basque Lands will be proposed in Parliament alongside four more that aim at "defeating ETA with Law and Democracy."

He highlighted that the ban on the party "would hinder Batasuna's presence in next local elections using their name" and noted that, for his party, "that should be the most important compromise the Government assumes."

Another of the proposals will be to urge the Government to use the State Law to notify Strasbourg's Court that circumstances with regard to Batasuna's ban haven't changed "as they are part of a terrorist organisation," the PP president highlighted.

Furthermore, conservatives will demand in Parliament to reopen the case against the banned daily Egunkaria and pass maximum sentences, chase all Batasuna's steps to avoid their "normalisation," and revoke the May 2005 resolution that authorised the Government to hold talks with ETA in the absence of violence.

"If the Government is sensitive with current events and acknowledges past errors, it will have a wonderful opportunity to recover consensus in the fight against terrorism," he said.