Spanish high court rejects Basque referendum

MADRID — Spain's highest court rejected a planned referendum in the Basque region on self-determination, ruling Thursday night that such an issue must be decided by all of Spain and that only the central government can call such a vote.

The ruling was a stinging but not unexpected defeat for the Basque region's nationalist president, Juan Jose Ibarretxe, who was the driving force behind the nonbinding vote he had scheduled for Oct. 25.

The national government appealed to the Constitutional Court shortly after the Basque parliament approved the referendum blueprint in July.

Madrid officials described the vote as a veiled push for outright independence for a region that already enjoys a great degree of autonomy, with its own police force, power over its finances and control of education and cultural issues.

The referendum would have put two questions to voters: Do they support negotiations with the armed Basque separatist group ETA if it ends violence, and do they think Basque political parties should work toward an agreement on the right of the Basque people to decide their own future.

Ibarretxe called the vote a "consultation" rather than a referendum and insisted it was not unconstitutional because it was not binding.

The court disagreed unanimously and declared the plan null and void. It said Ibarretxe's plans did amount to a referendum, which under the constitution only the national government can schedule.

Furthermore, the court said, the planned ballot would raise the issue of modifying the Basque region's relationship with the rest of Spain and "this cannot help but affect the whole of the Spanish citizenry."

Justice Minister Mariano Fernandez Bermejo welcomed the ruling. "From the outset, the government felt Ibarretxe's consultation was unconstitutional, and respects and welcome's the court's decision," Bermejo was quoted as saying by the national news agency Efe.

Critics complained that Ibarretxe was prepared to go ahead with the referendum even though ETA is on the offensive. The group has killed more than 825 people since launching its armed campaign for Basque independence in the late 1960s.

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