With the death of Carlos Garaikoetxea, this Monday at the age of 87, a transcendental figure of the Basque political transition, of the first years of democracy in a Euskadi marked by terrorism, disappears. The Basque Government has decreed three days of official mourning for the death.
Garaikoetxea, who died of a heart attack in his hometown, Pamplona, was the first Lehendakari of the Basque Government in democratic Spain and protagonist of the negotiation of the Basque Statute with President Adolfo Suárez. He also starred in the most serious crisis of the PNV in democracy with the split of the new party, Eusko Alkartasuna, which he headed. His Navarrese origin marked, first, his political destiny and, later, his political radicalism in Basque nationalism.
He entered the PNV at the hands of the veteran Navarrese politician Manuel de Irujo, Peneuvista leader and Minister of Justice in the Government of the Republic in 1937. His oratory, his polite style, his charisma and, above all, his Navarrese origin were decisive for him to be elected president of the PNV in 1977, after the Pamplona Assembly in March of that year, the first of Basque nationalism after the death of Franco. The PNV launched, with the figure of the Navarrese Garaikoetxea – coming from the business field, with no political background – a nod to its aspirations to incorporate Navarra into the Basque community when neither the Constitution nor the map of the State of the autonomies had yet been drawn up.
Talking about Garaikoetxea forces us to talk about Xabier Arzalluz and the original organizational system of the PNV, bicephaly. In 1977, while Arzalluz led the PNV parliamentary group in the Constituent Cortes, Garaikoetxea led the party. They were involved in a first disagreement in the constitutional debate. Garaikoetxea defended, from the party, radical positions against the moderantism of Arzalluz, head of the parliamentary group, finally imposing abstention before the Fundamental Law.
Once the constitutional debate was over, Arzalluz was elected president of the PNV and Garaikoetxea led the Basque General Council, a concentration government, which allowed him to direct the negotiation of the Basque Statute with President Adolfo Suárez. His imprint was decisive in a text that had the support of the Basque parties, except Herri Batasuna. It was his main and decisive contribution to Basque politics: The Statute of Gernika.
In 1980 he was elected Lehendakari in the first Basque regional elections, the year that ETA committed the highest number of murders in its history. His mandate was very controversial. The absence of Navarra from the Basque community and the pressure of Herri Batasuna, a radical nationalist and anti-system, marked him and he radicalized his nationalist politics, confronting the non-nationalist parties: PSE-PSOE, Euskadiko Ezkerra and Popular Coalition.
During Garaikoetxea’s mandate it was confirmed that the Basque Statute did not stop ETA and the Lehendakari made the mistake of holding the central government jointly responsible for terrorism due to the slow transfer to Euskadi of the powers included in the Statute. He was confident that a rapid and complete development of the Statute would stop terrorism. His relations with the first UCD and then the PSOE governments deteriorated.
His isolation was progressive. His confrontation with non-nationalist Basque parties and the central government in 1983 sharpened his confrontations with the leadership of his own party, the PNV. The Law of Historical Territories, which sought to grant more power to the deputations against the Basque Government, confronted Arzalluz with Garaikoetxea and caused a deep division in Penevism.
The division was aggravated by the sanction of the Navarrese organization of the PNV, from which Garaikoetxea came, decided by the Basque leadership, chaired by Arzalluz, for not assuming the policy of pacts for the government in Navarra. Garaikoetxea resigned at the end of 1984 after losing the support of the PNV leadership. The crisis culminated in 1986 with the split of the PNV of Garaikoetxea and his followers with the constitution of a new party, Eusko Alkartasuna (EA): pro-independence and critical of violence unlike HB.
It was the most serious crisis that the PNV has had in the democratic period. He split the PNV in two. In the 1986 regional elections, the PNV had 17 parliamentarians. It was the most serious crisis that the PNV has had in the democratic period. He split the PNV in two. In the 1986 regional elections, the PNV had 17 parliamentarians and EA, 13. The PSE-PSOE was the first party with 19 seats. The struggle between Garaikoetxea and Arzalluz was not a mere clash of egos. There were underlying strategic differences. They became visible with the constitution, three months after the regional elections, of the first PNV-PSE coalition government in Euskadi, headed by Lehendakari Ardanza, supported by Arzalluz.
Garaikoetxea and EA, in the opposition, were deflating little by little. In the local elections of 1999 and 2003 and in the weaker regional elections of 2001 and 2005, they allied themselves with the PNV. Later, in 2011, Garaikoetxea and EA joined EH-Bildu, once the former Herri Batasuna rejected violence. When a year ago, EH-Bildu disappeared as a coalition, Garaikoetxea abandoned it.
“Architect of self-government”
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has offered his condolences for the loss of Garaikoetxea, “a fundamental figure who contributed decisively as Lehendakari to the consolidation of freedom in Euskadi and Spain.”
The current Lehendakari, Imanol Pradales, regretted the death this Monday of Garaikoetxea, whom the Lehendakari referred to as “the architect of Basque self-government and well-being.” In a message sent to the media, Pradales referred to the “Navarrean, Basque, patriot and democrat” who “has said goodbye” as a “firm defender of human rights and social justice”, as well as a “leader in the most difficult times”, “pragmatic and dreamer, sensible and brave, charismatic and a team man and, above all this, father and husband”. “Thank you for having given the best of yourself to your people. Thank you for having fought for your freedom. It was an honor to know you and to have learned from you. We will not fail you,” said Pradales.
Former Lehendakari Iñigo Urkullu has also highlighted the “protagonism and leadership” of the former president of the Basque Government. In statements to ETB, Urkullu expressed his condolences and regrets to both Garaikoetxea’s family and those close to him and recalled his “protagonism and leadership” in the process of institutionalization of Euskadi as well as “in the conception of Euskadi and Euskal Herria.” As he stated, within the framework of the European institutions, “it is necessary to look towards” to appreciate “the commitment of an entire generation or several generations” in the recovery “of a feeling of Euskadi and the possibility of expressing that feeling in the institutionalization” of the Basque Country.
Another successor of Garaikoetxea in the position of Lehendakari, the socialist Patxi López, has said goodbye to Garaikoetxea with affection: “Carlos Garaikoetxea. Promoter with Ramón Rubial and some other relevant figures of the Statute of Gernika, the guide who led his first steps and the Lehendakari architect of much of the Euskadi that we know today.” “His figure was synonymous with institutional respect and constructive thinking. I shared reflections and received his advice that was always accurate and generous and, above all, the immense honor of serving Euskadi. We will miss him,” López assured in his message to X.
