Arzallus, Javier

b. 1932, Azcoitia (Guipúzcoa)

   President of the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV)

   Javier Arzallus emerged as the PNV's leading figure in the post-Franco period. Often controversial, he is seen by his opponents as exemplifying the unacceptable face of his party because of his alleged softness on ETA and its political wing, Herri Batasuna. His occasional statements emphasizing the racial distinctiveness of the Basques have led to him being portrayed by non-nationalist Basques as a nineteenthcentury village reactionary. In contrast, Arzallus is immensely popular with PNV activists, who are not disturbed by his sometimes bellicose statements.

   Arzallus is a native Basque speaker who entered a seminary at the age of 10. While a member of the Society of Jesus he studied in the universities of Zaragoza, Frankfurt and Berlin, and has degrees in law and political science. He left the Jesuits in 1967 and taught at Madrid University. On joining the PNV in 1968 he moved to Bilbao, where he practised law, and taught at the university of Deusto. He immediately became a leading member of the party. As the PNV revived at the close of the Franco dictatorship the surviving leaders from the Civil War period gave way to a new generation. Arzallus was elected to both the Vizcayan and the national committees in 1971. He became an MP for Guipúzcoa in 1977, and was re-elected in 1979. During the negotiations over the constitution of 1978, Arzallus was the main PNV spokesman in the Madrid parliament and an intransigent advocate of the restoration of the historic rights (Fueros) of the Basque country. Arzallus" reputation as a hard liner dates from his reluctance to compromise on that issue, which led to him being removed from the negotiating team. At the end of 1979 he resigned from parliament to become President of the PNV, a position where his capacity for annoying rival political forces is not a handicap. In the early 1980s it was alleged that he urged leaders of ETA to continue their violent struggle in order to extract concessions from the Spanish government. In 1984 Arzallus clashed with Carlos Garaikoetxea, the charismatic leader (lehendakari) of the autonomous Basque government. Garaikoetxea wanted a centralized Basque country, whereas Arzallus and his supporters demanded the retention of the historic powers of the individual provinces. When Garaikoetxea was removed and broke away to form his own party, he was replaced by José Antonio Ardanza, a mild and conciliatory figure, whose strengths nicely balance those of Arzallus. Those who are alarmed at Arzallus" calls for eventual Basque independence from Spain and his condemnation of state violence as terrorism pay insufficient attention to the subtlety encouraged by his Jesuit training. He is essentially a moderate politician, intensely loyal to his party. The contrast with Ardanza's caution and moderation is a division of labour and of temperament, rather than a potential division within the PNV

   JOHN SULLIVAN