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Political party in Basque Country
Sortu
Secretary-GeneralArkaitz Rodriguez
Founded9 February 2011 (2011-02-09)
Preceded byBatasuna
HeadquartersBilbao, Basque Country
Youth wingErnai
Membership (2018)≈10,000
Ideology
Political positionLeft-wing to far-left
National affiliationEH Bildu
EH Bai
European Parliament groupEuropean United Left–Nordic Green Left
Trade union affiliationLangile Abertzaleen Batzordeak
Congress of Deputies1 / 23Basque seats
Spanish Senate1 / 20Basque seats
European Parliament1 / 61Spanish seats
Basque Parliament12 / 75
Parliament of Navarre4 / 50
Website
sortu.eus

Sortu (English: Create) is a Basque socialist political party. Founded in February 2011, it is the first political party belonging to the Basque nationalist "abertzale left" that openly rejects any kind of political violence. Before Sortu, sections of the Basque nationalist left who rejected ETA's violence left the movement and founded another party, Aralar, to represent that element of the abertzale left.

History

At a press conference on 8 February 2011, party supporters backed a Basque state "within a European Union framework, via exclusively peaceful and political channels." They further rejected all violence "categorically and without hesitation...including that of ETA."

The Guardian and other papers described the party as a new iteration of the Batasuna, ETA's political wing, which has been banned since 2003. The District Attorney of the Basque Country High Court, however, stated that the two parties are not the same and that Sortu "has said things never previously said." The Spanish government announced in January 2011 that it will ask the courts to rule on the legality of the new party. "If this rejection of violence included in the statutes of the new party allow for the end of this situation of illegality or not, it is a decision that is up to judges" said Deputy Prime Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba.

As of 23 March 2011, Sortu will not be able to register as a political party with the Interior Ministry. This was decided by the "61st chamber" of the Supreme Court, which considered the new party to be sponsored by the "Basque nationalist left" as the successor to Batasuna, therefore in affiliation with ETA. After deliberating for 12 hours, the ruling was passed with the support of most magistrates; however, three magistrates voted against the ban. According to most magistrates, the evidence of the links between ETA and the eighth political party created by the Basque nationalist left is so solid that the rejection of violence contained in the statutes is now of secondary importance.

In response to the decision, some members of Sortu, together with other allies, formed a new political coalition, Bildu. Bildu itself was initially banned, but the decision was overturned and Bildu was allowed to participate and went on to receive 26% of the vote in May 2011 regional elections.

Finally, on 20 June 2012, Sortu was legalized by the Constitutional Court, by only a 1-vote difference. Sortu is a member of EH Bildu political coalition with other left-wing independentist political groups.

The party was officially launched after the legalisation on 23 February 2013, with Hasier Arraiz as their first president.

In July 2016, the party went through a process of "re-foundation", in which their leadership structure was significantly changed, with Arraiz's role removed entirely. An "open assembly" was organised for 2 July that year to discuss issues with citizens of the Basque Country.

Electoral performance

Basque Parliament

Date Votes Seats Status Size
# % ±pp # ±
2012 277,923 24.7% — 11 / 75 — Opposition *
2016 255,172 21.1% –3.6 12 / 75 1 Opposition *

Notes

  1. 5,000 dues-paying members and 5,000 non-paying "supporters".

References

  1. Sainz, J. (2018). Sortu a la caza de afiliados. El Diario Vasco.
  2. "Left-wing separatist Bildu eyes historic win in Basque vote". Jordan Times. 2024-04-22. Retrieved 2024-08-03.
  3. ^ Nordsieck, Wolfram (2016). "Basque Country/Spain". Parties and Elections in Europe. Archived from the original on 15 February 2018.
  4. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-02-26. Retrieved 2013-02-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "Línea política". YouTube.
  6. Landsford, T. (2014) Political Handbook of the World 2014, p. 1343 ISBN 978-1-4833-3328-1
  7. "Sortu nace con el objetivo de colocar el independentismo en el "carril central" de la sociedad". Gara (in Spanish). gara.net. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
  8. "Teachers and employees from different fields get behind Sortu". EiTB. 8 February 2011. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
  9. Burgen, Stephen (7 February 2011). "'New' Eta political wing rejects violence". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
  10. "District Attorney says Batasuna and Sortu, two different parties". EiTB. 8 February 2011.
  11. "Spain will ask courts to rule on legality of new party". AFP. 2 February 2011. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
  12. "Spanish supreme court bans Basque separatist party Sortu for links to ETA". BBC Monitoring European. 24 March 2011. ProQuest 858354060.
  13. "Spanish Constitutional Court lifts ban on Bildu". Archived from the original on May 9, 2011. Retrieved 2011-05-24.
  14. "Lanzan nuevo partido vasco en España" [A new Basque political party is launched in Spain]. Yahoo News (in Spanish). Associated Press. 23 February 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  15. Rioja Andueza, Iker (25 May 2016). "Arraiz renuncia a dirigir Sortu" [Arraiz stops leading Sortu]. El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  16. Sola, Ramón (17 June 2016). "Sortu acomete su refundación con un nuevo equipo y asamblea abierta el 2J" [Sortu finalises their "re-foundation" with a new team and an open assembly on 2 July]. GARA (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 May 2020.
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