The Plenary Session of the Senate has rejected this Wednesday a motion presented by Vox that urged the Government to initiate the process of outlawing EH Bildu, understanding that its political action "violates democratic principles, human rights and seriously and repeatedly supports terrorism". Despite having an absolute majority, the PP has opted to abstain in the vote.
Vox has been left isolated in the Upper House by unilaterally backing this non-legislative initiative. No other parliamentary group has supported the proposal, while the 'popular' senators have opted not to take a stance either for or against.
The motion also included the request to promote legal reforms to ensure the full compliance of sentences for terrorism offenses, toughen the prohibition of acts glorifying ETA, and advance the investigation of the organization's unsolved crimes.
According to the party of Santiago Abascal, the Organic Law of Political Parties allows requesting the disqualification of those formations that support or justify terrorist violence, and it emphasized that both the Senate and Congress are empowered to initiate this procedure before the Supreme Court.
Furthermore, Vox demanded regulatory changes from the Executive to prevent the "flexibilization" of the prison regime applied to those convicted of terrorism, including the modification of article 100 of the Penitentiary Regulations, and showed its support for policies aimed at safeguarding the memory of the victims.
In the explanatory memorandum, the party maintained that EH Bildu "cannot be dissociated from ETA's trajectory" and highlighted the presence on its electoral lists of individuals convicted of crimes linked to the group, expressly citing the coalition's general coordinator, Arnaldo Otegi.
Vox argued equally that the parliamentary support of EH Bildu to the Government has implied "political concessions" that, in its opinion, "affect national unity and the rights of victims of terrorism".
Rejection of the rest of the groups
The PP has justified its stance alleging that the outlawing of EH Bildu is not feasible with the current constitutional framework and the Party Law, and has warned that the initiative "would generate false hopes" among the victims of terrorism.
On this line, the 'popular' have maintained that "all possible legal measures have been used to prevent the whitewashing of terrorism" and have asked Vox to "not seek the headline".
The PSOE, for its part, has insisted that the motion "goes against current legislation" and the doctrine of the Supreme Court, warning that putting forward proposals of this type "without justification deteriorates trust in institutions".
The socialists have also accused Vox of using the "ETA joker" as a tool for political confrontation. "That is their way of doing politics," they have pointed out.
From EH Bildu they have denounced that the text incorporates "serious imputations of crime" and is part of a strategy of criminalization of the coalition, while they have reproached Vox for resorting to ETA with "partisan ends".
The 'abertzale' formation has asserted the advances achieved in recent years in the normalization of coexistence in Euskadi and has reiterated its commitment to "peace, democracy and coexistence".
In similar terms, the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC), Junts per Catalunya (Junts), and the Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG) have expressed themselves, rejecting the motion on the grounds that it lacks legal standing and constitutes "an attempt to illegalize political parties for ideological reasons."
These formations have defended political pluralism and respect for the representation that emerged from the ballot boxes. "Today it is EH Bildu, tomorrow it could be any nationalist political force," they have warned from the BNG.
Vox attacks PP's abstention
After the Plenary session concluded, Vox deputy José Alcaraz criticized the PP's "cowardly" abstention to the media, recalling that their absolute majority in the Senate would have allowed the motion to be approved.
"From Vox we feel that the PP continues to be condemned to that kidnapping by the terrorist group ETA because Rajoy's agreements with Zapatero continue to weigh it down," he stated.
Alcaraz has announced that, despite the parliamentary setback, his group will continue to promote initiatives with the aim of outlawing EH Bildu.