EH Bildu is betting on bicephaly for the elections to the Basque Parliament next spring and to face, in the medium term, the new political cycle that is opening in the Basque Country. The general coordinator of the coalition, Arnaldo Otegi, will not be the candidate for lehendakari in these elections, although he will apply to continue in his current responsibility. The Basque parliamentarians Nerea Kortajarena and Oihana Etxebarrieta are the best positioned on the way to Ajuria Enea, but other options are not ruled out. The management of the training will make the proposal public in a matter of days.
The departure of Otegi as a candidate, despite his continuity at the head of the coalition, and the replacement of Iñigo Urkullu by Imanol Pradales among the Jeltzales, completed this weekend, underpin the prospect of a change of cycle to the Basque scene, marked by generational relief and equality in the PNB-EH Bildu struggle. Basque politics, predictable in recent years, is heading towards a horizon in which the correlation of forces is more similar and alliances may vary, even if not imminently.
The news about the future of Otegi was made public by the protagonist himself in Sant Sebastià, after a meeting with the political table of the coalition. In this appointment, the Abertzale leader conveyed to the rest of the leaders a political reflection that he had been sensing for some time regarding his hypothetical participation in the spring elections. Basically, he told them that, from his perspective, the coalition has other solvent electoral options and he also pointed out that he considers his political figure to be more useful in coordination. He also alluded to personal and family wear and tear.
Otegi's aim is to run for re-election at the congress to be held in September next year and, from there, to focus efforts on strategic issues linked to the future of the coalition. "It is up to me to apply, not to be a candidate for the three territories, but to once again be the general coordinator of EH Bildu. The tasks that we will have in political and strategic terms, in addition to being exciting, will be important", he pointed out.
This option, an approach expected by those who share the political table and already advanced by La Vanguardia this weekend, will prolong the bicephaly in the Abertzale formation, in case, as is foreseeable, Otegi is re-elected to his current position. It is an alternative that was once forced by the disqualification of the Abertzale leader following the Bateragune case, but which offers them important political advantages in order to continue expanding their electoral space without neglecting the so-called captive vote.
On the one hand, a person from the old guard like Otegi in the general coordination offers them more guarantees in order to guarantee internal cohesion, one of the great battles of the Abertzale management in recent years. It should be borne in mind that the pragmatic journey of the nationalist left has not been without internal rifts, especially in the case of its youth and in the area of the vindication of ETA prisoners.
On the other hand, the arrival of new profiles in the candidatures, without a past marked by violence, is one of the factors that is allowing them to grow beyond the historical ceilings of the abertzale left and come close to being a sum of its actors (Sortu, Eusko Alkartasuna, Alternatiba, the extinct Aralar...) and not a simple reproduction of what Sortu is, heir to the old Batasuna.
In addition, this bicephaly allows the abertzale to show that they give maximum relevance to the factor of "territoriality", showing a coordinator focused on the different realities in which they present themselves. Not surprisingly, beyond Euskadi, the coalition is strong in Navarre, and in Iparralde, the French Basque Country. His brand there, EH Bai, came second in the 2021 regionals and departmentals, although he usually ranks third.
EH Bildu clarifies, in part, one of the unknowns ahead of the spring elections. We still need to know who will be the chosen one, or the chosen one, for the fight with Imanol Pradales (PNB), Eneko Andueza (PSE), Javier de Andrés (PP) and Miren Gorrotxategi (Podem). The date of the elections is the other great unknown. The lehendakari, Iñigo Urkullu, linked it yesterday with the arrival of the transfers prioritized in the PSOE-PNB investiture agreement. The elections are expected to be very balanced and every move counts.
