ETA's publicity stunt turns campaign spotlight on Bildu

Ten days before local and municipal elections, the focus of a heated campaign between the major parties has been turned by an incident on Tuesday, when a newly released ETA terrorist held up a banner in support of the Bildu coalition as he left jail.

In a statement directed at Ander Errandonea Arruti, Bildu officials said that the former terrorist "should know that Bildu is only willing to fight through democratic means."

While the publicity stunt by Errandonea, who flashed the Bildu banner as he emerged from jail, has evoked concern among the political sectors, Deputy Prime Minister Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba said that it will be up to the voters to decide Bildu's future, now that the judiciary has allowed it to run in the race.

Despite objections from the attorney general, who said that the coalition was part of an ETA strategy, the Constitutional Court last Thursday agreed to allow Bildu to present candidates in the May 22 race. Bildu was formed through a partnership between the Basque abertzale radical left and the parties Eusko Alkartasuna and Alternatiba, and is fielding candidates on 254 slates in the Basque Country and Navarre.

"It is now the terrorists who are seeking court protection," said Popular Party spokesman Esteban González Pons. "The world is upside down. All we need now is for the judges to allow Batasuna to go after us."