The Cabinet is expected to authorise the State Bar (Abogacía del Estado) to begin proceedings to outlaw the Acción Nacionalista Vasca (ANV) and the Partido Comunista de las Tierras Vascas (PCTV) for their alleged connections with the already outlawed Batasuna party.
Batasuna itself was outlawed in 2003 for its links to the Basque terrorist/separatist organisation ETA.
Cabinet approval is a mere formality necessary for the State Bar to begin proceedings and it will mean that the two parties will not be able to contest the upcoming general election on March 9th 2008.
The request for the outlawing of the ANV and PCTV is based on an extensive police investigation into their organisational and economic relationships with those of the old Batasuna party.
The next stage is for the State Prosecutor’s Office to submit a request to a special panel of the Supreme Court and this is expected to happen before the end of the month.
The PCTV currently has 9 members in the Basque Parliament and the PCTV, following the local elections last May, has 430 councillors in the Basque Country and Navarra. During the local elections, Batasuna called for the public to vote for the PCTV….