Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Hard Times In The Bunker

It's hot outside, so come with me down into the cold - even frosty - underworld of the Foro Ermua. One of these satellite organisations set up in the past few years to agitate the issue of terrorism principally on behalf of the Partido Popular, the Foro has recently fallen victim to the same sort of infighting that has kept the PP so busy since the general election. It is a grouping that has never really excelled when it came to political tolerance. A member who wanted to stand in an election for a party that was not the PP was informed that this was incompatible with his continuing to occupy any position of responsibility in the Foro. Now however, this sectarianism has been taken a step further with the removal of the president, Iñaki Ezkerra, for having the temerity to be supportive of the new, relatively less hard line, leadership of the PP in the Basque country.

The Foro Ermua has been turned into a bunker of the extreme right. Now wait a minute. For those of you who think that this description is just South of Watford labelling decent upstanding anti-terrorist folk as being crazed rightists I should perhaps make it clear that the words are not mine; the description came from Ezkerra himself. If the cap fits you might as well use it. Ezkerra has also claimed that the Foro has been excessively generous, even careless, with some of its cocktail receptions, getting the association into some financial difficulties. Step forward the Comunidad de Madrid who have offered a significant injection of funds to help the Foro get over this difficult patch. It’s time for a Frequently Asked Question!

Q. “This Comunidad de Madrid, the one that is picking up the tab for the cocktails, is it by any chance related to the one that denies any funding at all for the main victims association of the Madrid bombings?”

A. “Yes.”


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