euskalkultura.eus

Supporters of Gure Esku Dago are carrying out various consultations on sovereignty and the right to decide.  The consultations are organized by local groups and one of the conditions for participation is to be registered in that town. This condition that leaves the Diaspora out of voting, was revised in Getaria, Gipuzkoa where even if they can’t vote, an Argentine and a Canadian were asked to participate in the process as observers. 

Getaria, Gipuzkoa.   To date consultations have been held in 90 towns in the whole Basque Country and next Sunday, May 7th, they will be held in 51 more.  In this way, the hope is that by the end of the year, nearly a million Basque would have had the possibility to vote.

The consultation, supported by the popular movement, Gure Esku Dago, are being organized at the local level by groups in each of the towns.  The conditions to participate in the events include: being at least 16 years of age, as well as being registered in the locality.  This last condition leaves the Diaspora out of the possibility of voting, but not participating in the process.  In fact, the group Brankan, who is responsible for the event organized in Getaria, has invited members of the Diaspora to participate as observers.

According to Brankan, “the work of the observers is to assure that the consultation is carried out correctly.  We have two representatives from the Diaspora, one from South America, Leandro Bello from Argentina and the other form North America, Nicolas Bernier-Deslauriers, from Quebec.”

“Leandro is from Buenos Aires with family on his father’s side from Bizkaia.  He studied Basque at Euskaltzaleak in Buenos Aires, where he achieved being a teacher.  In 2007, he participated in Gaztemundu and has lived in Bilbao for 9 years.  In regards to Euskera, he is accredited in HABE’s 2^nd linguistic profile.  Nicolas, on the other hand, studied Basque at Euskaldunak in Montreal and after learning the language, he moved to Euskal Herria.  After several years of coming and going, he currently resides in Vitoria-Gasteiz and teaches French at the Official Language School there.”

The consultation this Sunday has invited 247,258 citizens to vote.  The results will be published in the newspapers as well as on Gure Esku Dago’s website.