Basque Parliament

Basque Parliament Eusko Legebiltzarra Parlamento Vasco
Type
Type	Unicameral
Leadership
Speaker	Bakartxo Tejeria, EAJ-PNV Since 20 October 2012
Structure
Seats	75
250px
Political groups	Government (27): EAJ-PNV (27) Suported by (16): PSE-EE (16) Opposition (32): EH Bildu (21) PP (10) UPyD (1)
Elections
Voting system	Closed party lists in three 25-seat constituencies, with seats allocated using the D'Hondt method
Last election	21 October 2012
Next election	On or before 20 November 2016
Meeting place
File:Parlamento Vasco.jpg
Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava
Website
Website

The Basque Parliament (Basque: Eusko Legebiltzarra, Spanish: Parlamento Vasco) is the legislative body of the Basque Autonomous Community of Spain and the elected assembly to which the Basque Government is responsible.

The Parliament meets in the Basque capital, Vitoria-Gasteiz, although the first session of the modern assembly, as constituted by the Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country, was held in Guernica – the symbolic centre of Basque freedoms – on 31 March 1980. 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 an oaken sculpture by Nestor 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, Gipuzkoa and Biscay) elects the same number of deputies, despite their having very different levels of population. This was chosen to earn support from Álava and Navarre, less populated territories in which Basque nationalism is less popular. Still, Navarre did not join the autonomous community.

The elections are held using closed list proportional representation with seats allocated on a Provincial basis using the D'Hondt method of allocation. To qualify for seats in a particular province, electoral lists must receive at least 3% of the votes cast in that province, including votes "en blanco" for "none of the above." From 1984 to 2001, the election threshold was 5% in each province. Sessions of the Basque Parliament are conducted in both Basque and Spanish, with translation services.

The current Speaker of the Basque Parliament is Bakartxo Tejeria, who was elected on the EAJ-PNV ticket in 2012.

See also

• List of Basque Presidents (known as Lehendakari), heads of the Basque government
• List of Presidents of the Basque Parliament

External links

• Official website of the Basque Parliament (in Basque and Spanish)