The Basque elections have produced some most unexpected results, not least the success of the PNV (Basque Nationalist Party) who obtained 600,000 votes (43%) which translates into 33 MPs (six more than before) out of a total of 75 in the Basque Parliament.

The high turn out rate of 70.7% in the election in Euskadi (Basque name for the Basque country), 11 points higher than the last regional elections of 1994, and only 0.8% less than the general election of 1996, reflects the enormous interest of the Basque population in finding a solution to their problems, starting with an end to the long nightmare of repression and terrorism with the change in the political situation since the ETA ceasefire.