In an event held at the doors of the Parliament of Vitoria-Gasteiz, they explained that the state of alarm has shown the weakness of the Basque self-government and its inability to make its own decisions.

Read the full statement:

The health crisis we live in has not changed the world, but it has changed our way of looking at the world. We have seen that, in addition to the solution to this crisis, in order to make a better and fairer future possible, the changes are essential and that this reconstruction must come from the hand of the citizens or it will not be.

The management of the state of alarm has revealed the weakness of our people ' s self-government. States have used the crisis to implement centralizing measures, and so we have been led to believe that central governments are the most appropriate to respond to the most serious situations. In order to respond to global crises, it is important to promote international cooperation, yes, but above all we need local action. And that is that decisions are made ever closer to citizenship and, above all, they allow for ever greater participation of citizenship, they are better adapted to our lives.

We also believe that given the seriousness of the situation, our public institutions should promote political agreements and greater cooperation with actors in different fields. The inability to respond to the crisis as a people has demonstrated the urgency of moving towards a more democratic governance model and of strengthening the perspective and character of a country.

Undoubtedly, one of the main deficiencies underpinning this crisis is the lack of decision-making capacity, so it has multiplied the need to make decisions here and in the public and our determination on the way to achieve it. Seven years have not gone by in vain. We citizens have managed to put the issue of the right to decide as an object of conflict at the heart of the political agenda, weaving a fragmented society, deepening sovereignty and strengthening collective action. And here we have managed to incorporate and use the decision-making instrument, or mobilize 175,000 people in a human chain and influence consensus on the basis of the new status in the CAV. We do not believe in chance, not even in times of uncertainty, for there is no greater certainty than that we create opportunities ourselves.

We have believed that another future is possible and we want to build that future, that people, by jointly deciding. In the face of the setbacks that this crisis has shown us, we say that we are not going to go back one step on our way, but are prepared to open up new paths.

In order to effectively legalise the right to decide, it needs to be the legislature that comes. We have repeated many times that on this road we all have our place and that only one can fulfill his own: citizens, agents and institutions. On the eve of the elections on 12 July in the Basque Autonomous Community, we would like to recall the appeal of thousands of people who have participated in dozens of demonstrations: we need a new political status, which is centred on the right to decide, and that citizenship be the basis of the process. That is to say, the way to give effect to the right to decide must be the proposal to be agreed in Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa on this matter and, in this regard, the possibility of deciding by referendum on the legal and political status. In order to do this, we need the popular perspective, the political will and broad agreements. To miss this historic opportunity would be a serious mistake.

Parties cannot turn their backs on the majority will of the citizens, or their voters. Citizens' representatives must act from the point of view of society, so it is up to them to make law the broad consensus that exists in favour of the right to decide, guaranteeing the participation of citizens throughout the process. Ready to cooperate, we wish to reach out to them and show our readiness to hold a round of meetings in autumn with all parties, once again inviting those who so far have not received an answer to the dialogue.

We need the referendum tool here and for citizens to decide, on political status and on all issues. With the aim of making the central position in favour of this claim visible, Locks Esku will set in motion a massive concentration of accessions and commitments in autumn, by collecting signatures, in collaboration with the other promoters of the Hamaika Gara project. We, the citizens, as we are prepared to make the way, by reaching out to each other, putting together and organising ourselves, also call on the political representatives to act responsibly and make it possible for it to be a legislature to legalise the right to decide that it should be put into effect in the autumn. In this regard, with this appearance we would like to ask the public to explain publicly what the purposes and commitments they make for the forthcoming elections in this area are.

Our commitment remains firm: we will move forward to decide our future and be sovereign.