Pamplona (EFE).- The general secretary of EH Bildu, Arnaldo Otegi, has called for a “country pact” in Pamplona to achieve “sovereignty” and has reached out to all forces to build “broad fronts with a program of minima”.
Otegi has closed a massive demonstration of the Aberri Eguna (Basque homeland day) in the Antoinutti park, in Pamplona, where, accompanied by the EH Bildu candidate for the presidency of the Government of Navarra, Laura Aznal, and the national coordinator of the Sinn Féin, Declan Kearney, has indicated that his formation is already working to achieve that “country agreement”.
Several thousand people have demonstrated this Sunday from the Plaza Europa in Pamplona in the Aberri Eguna to claim “democracy and sovereignty”.
Representatives of the Irish Sinn Féin, the Catalan parties ERC and CUP and the Galician formation BNG have accompanied EH Bildu at the Aberri Eguna celebrated by the Basque independentist left in Pamplona.
The demonstration, the first act of a festive programme, started from Plaza de Europa to continue along Avenida Bayona, Plaza Juan XXIII, and ended in Parque de Antoniutti, where the spokesmen for the Abertzale coalition spoke.
“There can be no transforming left without self-determination”
In his turn, Otegi has also sent a message to the left: “There can be no transforming left in the Spanish and French State, if it does not defend the plurinational character and the right to self-determination of the peoples. Nations like Euskal Herria have to have the right to self-determination”.
The general secretary of the abertzale coalition has described his political project as “the bloc of hope, of commitment. We have to remember again that the Basques are neither Spanish nor French, but Basques”.
Otegi has also dedicated a few minutes to the end of the dispersal of the prisoners: “The dispersal has ended and all that has been done is to apply the law. We are very happy, now it is time to build a new future, without political prisoners or refugees, where all the victims are heard”.
Otegi has highlighted the “added value” of Navarra to the “national project of left-wing Basque independence”. “It gives it a historical dimension, the State that was, the lingua navarrorum… while there are those who want to keep Navarra subject to Spain. Sayas and Adanero, they are going to have us in front of them, it is you who do not respect what the Navarrese want to decide. That is why we are a guarantee of freedom for the people of Nafarroa”.
Fatherland Day in an electoral framework
Laura Aznal recalled that this year is an Aberri Eguna on the eve of the elections: “We are aware of the challenges that lie ahead, with an exciting future.”
“Fueros the elites that 40 years ago approved an Improvement of the Fuero that only had the objective of separating Nafarroa from the rest of the Basque territories. The powers that be continue to do their job to maintain that separation. That they be clear about what our objective is, a Basque republic”.
The national coordinator of Sinn Féin, Declan Kearney, has thanked the invitation to attend the Aberri Eguna, has indicated that it is a “pleasure” and has encouraged EH Bildu to continue with its “action” to achieve independence.
The EH Bildu deputies in Congress, Basque and Navarrese parliamentarians, the candidate for mayor of Pamplona, Joseba Asiron, in addition to the already mentioned Laura Aznal and Arnaldo Otegi, were present at the march.
