Euskadiko Ezkerra or EE was a Basque

Basque Country (autonomous community)

The Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, also called Historical Territories....

 socialist political organisation. It was founded as a coalition of Euskal Iraultzarako Alderdia

Euskal Iraultzarako Alderdia

Euskal Iraultzarako Alderdia or EIA was a Basque Country/Spanish political party between 1977 and 1982....

(EIA, Basque Party for Revolution or Party for Basque Revolution) and other Basque Marxist

Marxism

Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...

 forces in 1977 to present lists for the Spanish general elections in the constituencies of Vizcaya

Vizcaya (Spanish Congress Electoral District)

Biscay is one of the 52 electoral districts used for the Spanish Congress of Deputies - the lower chamber of the Spanish Parliament, the Cortes Generales. It is situated in the Basque Country and the largest city is Bilbao where around 30% of the electorate of almost a million live...

, Guipúzcoa

Guipúzcoa (Spanish Congress Electoral District)

Gipuzkoa is one of the 52 electoral districts used for the Spanish Congress of Deputies - the lower chamber of the Spanish Parliament, the Cortes Generales...

 and Álava

Álava (Spanish Congress Electoral District)

Álava is one of the 52 electoral districts used for the Spanish Congress of Deputies - the lower chamber of the Spanish Parliament, the Cortes Generales. It was first contested in modern times in the 1977 General Election. The largest municipality is Vitoria-Gasteiz where approximately 75% of the...

, while Unai, an allied coalition, was to present a list in the constituency of Navarre

Navarra (Spanish Congress Electoral District)

Navarra is one of the 52 electoral districts used for the Spanish Congress of Deputies - the lower chamber of the Spanish Parliament, the Cortes Generales...

.

EE's list in Guipúzcoa won one seat in the Spanish Congress for Francisco Letamendía, one in the Senate

Spanish Senate

The Senate of Spain is the upper house of Spain's parliament, the . It is made up of 264 members: 208 elected by popular vote, and 56 appointed by the regional legislatures. All senators serve four-year terms, though regional legislatures may recall their appointees at any time.The last election...

 for Juan María Bandrés, a lawyer for ETA

ETA

ETA , an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization. The group was founded in 1959 and has since evolved from a group promoting traditional Basque culture to a paramilitary group with the goal of gaining independence for the Greater Basque Country...

 members, and none in the other constituencies. Many prominent members of EE (including candidates from these lists, as Pedro Solabarría, Jon Idígoras, Santiago Brouard

Santiago Brouard

Santiago Brouard or Santi Brouard was a doctor and Basque politician. He was one of the leaders of Herri Batasuna, member of the Spanish Senate representing the party, and deputy major in Bilbao...

, Félix Eguía "Argala", and Ignacio Esnaola) eventually separated from the coalition and formed Herri Batasuna. EE called for "no" in the Referendum for Spanish Constitution

Spanish Constitution of 1978

-Structure of the State:The Constitution recognizes the existence of nationalities and regions . Preliminary Title As a result, Spain is now composed entirely of 17 Autonomous Communities and two autonomous cities with varying degrees of autonomy, to the extent that, even though the Constitution...

 in 1978.

Several of the members of ETA (pm)

ETA political-military

ETA political-military or ETA was a faction of the Basque revolutionary armed organization ETA, who during Spain's transition to democracy proposed initially a double political and military type of work, by contrast to ETA militarra or ETA, who initially wanted...

 joined peaceful political action in EE after they abandoned violence and negotiated pardons from the Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 government.
In 1982 it merged with some sectors of PCE-EPK

Communist Party of Euskadi

Communist Party of Euskadi , is the federation of the Communist Party of Spain in Basque Country and Navarre....

 (the Basque branch of PCE) and became a party under the name EE-IPS, Euskadiko Ezkerra-Izquierda para el Socialismo ("Left for Socialism"), while often using the simpler name Euskadiko Ezkerra. Its general secretary in this period was Mario Onaindia Nachiondo, a former ETA member during the Franco era, later replaced by Kepa Aulestia.

EE called for a "no" on the membership of Spain in NATO in the referendum held in 1986. While the "yes" vote won nationally, the "no" campaign triumphed in the Basque Autonomous Community.

After the split of the Basque Nationalist Party

Basque Nationalist Party

The Basque National Party is the largest and oldest Basque nationalist party. It is currently the largest political party in the Basque Autonomous Community also with a minor presence in Navarre and a marginal one in the French Basque Country...

 (PNV) and the creation of Eusko Alkartasuna

Eusko Alkartasuna

Eusko Alkartasuna is a Basque nationalist political party operating in Spain and France. The Basque language name means Basque Solidarity and abbreviated as EA. The party describes itself as a Basque nationalist, democratic, popular, progressive and non-denominational party...

 (EA) in 1987, EE established several coalitions with the latter. In 1991 EE entered in the government of the Basque Autonomous Community in coalition with both PNV and EA.

Later, in 1991, a majority of party affiliates approved a merger with Socialist Party of the Basque Country (PSE), the branch of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is a social-democratic political party in Spain. Its political position is Centre-left. The PSOE is the former ruling party of Spain, until beaten in the elections of November 2011 and the second oldest, exceeded only by the Partido Carlista, founded in...

 (PSOE) for the Basque Autonomous Community. The resulting party is the current PSE-EE.
However a section of Euskadiko Ezkerra (including the deputy Koro Garmendia) disagreed with the PSE merger, and, since the Euskadiko Ezkerra name was retained by the majority of members who approved the merger with the PSE, the remaining faction went on to create a new party, Euskal Ezkerra

Euskal Ezkerra

Euskal Ezkerra was a political party in Euskadi, Spain. EuE was formed as break-away from Euskadiko Ezkerra in 1991 when EuE merged with Spanish Socialist Workers' Party....

(EuE, Basque Left) which, in turn, merged soon after with Eusko Alkartasuna.

External links

• Gaizka Fernández Soldevilla, Agur a las armas. EIA, Euskadiko Ezkerra y la disolución de ETA político-militar (1976-1985), en Sancho el sabio. Revista de cultura e investigación vasca, ISSN 1131-5350, Nº 33, 2010, pp. 55–96 http://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=3401994