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Spain vote to test Iraq policy
By CNN's Madrid Bureau Chief Al Goodman
MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- Campaigning officially began Friday in Spain for local elections widely seen as the first test of Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar's staunch support of the U.S.-led war in Iraq. The May 25 vote is also the first in 24 years in which hundreds of politicians considered to have close ties with the outlawed Basque separatist group ETA will be barred by court order from running for office. Opinion polls for months have shown an overwhelming majority of Spaniards -- at one point about 90 percent -- were opposed to the war, even as Aznar stood firmly by U.S. President George W. Bush in the so-called "coalition of the willing." But Aznar, in an exclusive interview with CNN Thursday in Washington, predicted victory for his conservative Popular Party. "In Spain, there are local elections on May 25 and general elections in March 2004," Aznar said. "I think we are going to win both elections." Aznar -- who said long before the Iraq conflict that he would not run for a third term next year -- insists the local elections are not about the war, but about isues like crime and taxes. He will be still be active in the campaign though, speaking at 22 major campaign events across Spain during the two-week campaign. He also appears in the party's main campaign video, alongside the local candidates. The elections are for mayors and local councilors in Spain's 8,000 cities and villages, and for officials in 13 of the country's 17 regional governments. The main opposition Socialist Party, which opposed the war in Iraq, is seen as Aznar's biggest challenger in the elections. Candidates bannedBesides the war, the other focal point of the elections is the unprecedented ban on most of the candidates linked to ETA, the armed separatist group blamed for more than 800 killings in its long fight for Basque independence. Spain's highest tribunal, the Constitutional Court, issued the order banning the candidates early Friday, just as the official campaign was beginning. The court banned 93 percent of the candidates from the pro-Basque independence formation, AuB, because it considers them to be successors to the banned pro-independence party Batasuna. Last year, Spain passed a law that outlawed parties seen as supporting terrorism. It did not mention Batasuna by name but the leftist group was later shut down under for purportedly having links to ETA. Officials and police have long said that Batasuna has helped to finance and provide other logistical support for ETA. On Wednesday, Aznar met with U.S. President George W. Bush in Washington -- just hours after news that the State Department had placed Batasuna on its list of terrorist groups. It was a move long sought by Aznar. Some analysts said it amounted to a U.S. payback for Aznar's support for the war in Iraq. The United States and the European Union, of which Spain is a member, already have ETA listed as a terrorist group. The EU has yet to add Batasuna to its terroist list. AuB surfaced as a political formation in Spain only after Batasuna was banned. Batasuna has held dozens of seats on town councils in the northern Basque region, and also has mayors in several dozen Basque towns. If these pro-independence politicians end up with no local seats after the May 25 elections, Batasuna, or its successor, would effectively lose control over $192 million in municipal funds that they have helped to allocate until now, according to Spanish newspaper ABC.
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