- Basque Parliament
The Basque Parliament (Basque: "Eusko Legebiltzarra" – Spanish: "Parlamento Vasco") is the legislative body of the Basque Country
autonomous community ofSpain and the elected assembly to which theBasque Government is responsible.The Parliament meets in the Basque capital,
Vitoria-Gasteiz , although the first session of the modern assembly, as constituted by theStatute of Autonomy of the Basque Country , was held in Guernica – the symbolic centre of Basque freedoms – on31 March 1980 . [ [http://www.parlamento.euskadi.net/c_lasede_1.html Parlamento Vasco - Servicios > Conócenos > La sede] ] Later in 1980 it started meeting at the premises of the Alavese government.In 1982, it got its own site in a former high school.The symbol of the Parliament is anoak en sculpture byNestor Basterretxea representing a stylized tree, an allusion to the tradition of Basque political assemblies meeting under a tree, as in Guernica.It is composed of seventy-five deputies representing citizens from the three provinces of the Basque autonomous community. Each province –
Álava ,Guipúzcoa and Vizcaya – elects the same number of deputies, despite their having very different levels of population. This was chosen to earn support from Alava andNavarre , less populated territories whereBasque nationalism has less followers.Navarre did not join the autonomous community though.Sessions of the Basque Parliament are conducted in both Basque and Spanish, with translation services.The current Speaker of the Basque Parliament is
Izaskun Bilbao Barandica . Thanks to an electoral norm aimed at promoting gender equality within the parliament, the members of parliament today include 38 women and 37 men. [ [http://actualidad.terra.es/articulo/html/av2253651.htm El Parlamento Vasco, compuesto por primera vez por más mujeres] ]ee also
*
List of Basque Presidents (known as "Lehendakari"), heads of the Basque governmentReferences
External links
* [http://www.parlamento.euskadi.net Official website of the Basque Parliament] (in Spanish and Basque)
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