PRIME MINISTER REJECTS PLAN

The day after Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero flatly turned down Basque regional President Juan Jose Ibarretxe's plan for independence from Spain, he held a meeting with Opposition leader Mariano Rajoy to discuss a strategy for countering Basque and Catalan separatist tendencies. The Catalan regional government, the Generalitat, is currently pressing for the reform of its Statute, to give the region more autonomy from Madrid and the Catalan Republican Left leader, Josep Carod-Rovira, has already warned that the proposed new Statute makes "the Ibarretxe Plan look like child's play". To stop Spain from falling apart, many people have been urging Sr Zapatero to bury the hatchet and make peace with the main opposition and former governing party, Partido Popular, because he needs its votes - and determination - to squash any separatist attempt in Parliament. That finally seems to have happened last Friday, when Sr Zapatero and Sr Rajoy agreed to form a commission to review the Socialists' planned reforms of the Constitution, which do not include the clauses on autonomy, and also the reforms of the regional Statutes. They also decided that any modification of the Constitution would have to be approved by two thirds of Parliamentary votes and not a simple majority, which makes the Socialist-PP block unbeatable. Fearing such a pact, Sr Carod-Rovira had already warned the prime minister that his party ERC, with eight votes, would withdraw its support in Parliament and if the threat becomes reality, ERC could force the dissolution of this parliament and a new general election. However, the Socialists seem to believe they can convince Sr Carod to be more reasonable. A firm "No" to the Basque plan The day before, during a four-hour meeting with the Basque regional president Juan José Ibarretxe, the prime minister told him that his plan, which has already been endorsed by the Basque regional parliament, faces certain rejection by the national parliament when it comes up for debate in late March. Speaking after the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa de la Vega said the prime minister had told Mr Ibarretxe his project was a mistake which could never succeed. The government and other opponents argue the plan, which would give the Basque region its own court system and representation on international bodies, such as the European Union, goes against the constitution, will cause divisions within the Basque country and is rejected by the rest of Spain. Mr Ibarretxe wants to hold a referendum on the plan within the Basque region, although opinion there has so far been divided on its merits. Basque separatists have been fighting an armed campaign for an independent homeland since the 1960s. There is also a movement for independence which rejects the use of violence. The Basques presently have control over their finances, police, schools, healthcare and other public services. A major obstacle for the Ibarretxe plan is that much of the support for it comes from the outlawed Batasuna party - the political wing of the Basque terrorist group ETA. Peace offer In fact, Just before the meeting between the prime minister and Sr Rajoy ended, a letter arrived from the Batasuna party, offering to help to seek an agreement between nationalist and non-nationalist Basques which would put an end to ETA once and for all. However, the party has consistently refused to condemn ETA violence or ask it to lay down its arms. Sr Zapatero said he would be willing to talk with Batasuna "when the sound of bombs and gunfire is heard no more."