Welcome to popular consultations. Around Euskal Herria, he has announced that he will hold consultations on independence in all the towns and regions of Euskal Herria until next year 2018. The first were Etxarri Aranatz and Arrankudiaga, with remarkable success. Participation was high (42.7% and 61.5% respectively). For reference, in Arenys de Munt, the town that started the tour of consultations in Catalonia, stood at 41%. The participation of the other subsequent surveys was lower, with an average of 20%. This data is good for us to locate, because the percentages surround us often. Symbolically, thousands of citizens will have the opportunity to carry out an exercise that they have dreamed and fought for for many years, that is, to give their free and democratic opinion on the political future of Euskal Herria. It is important because the same exercise can be a great tool for popular mobilization. Once citizens imagine that they want to make a public decision, there is no one to stop it. After taking a small step, people tend to dig deeper into the direction we take.

Welcome also to the Basque regional elections. The parties have already begun to present their candidatures and a demoscopy has been put in place for this important meeting. According to the last Sociometer, just as the results of EH Bildu four years ago stirred up the political scene, this time there could also be changes of course. The PNV would keep Podemos’s votes quite fine, but another thing is to form government. For the first time, it could be possible to reach an agreement that brings together the left-wing forces and allows them to take over. If this result were to be achieved, one of the keys would be the political centrality: who and where will be at the centre of the talks. It seems that this moment can be appropriate for EH Bildu, who shares with Podemos the social sphere and nationalism with the PNV. However, it is known that the PNV moves well in these kinds of sliding and changing scenarios – one on the right, another on the left, the independence autonomist – and will try to take the helm of the situation. We do not know the swing of Podemos Euskadi, nor if they will put it in a narrow tango of Madrid. It might seem like they're polls and we'll have to wait until the election night to get to know the true chords for the dance, but in view of the moves so far, it's possible that the whole campaign will focus on those parameters.

Welcome, Arnaldo Otegi. No one will dare to deny that this is a person who has made a significant contribution to Basque policy and who is going to give much to say. However, it is not clear what its role will be, as it may be necessary the charism and optimism that characterizes it, both internally and externally. On the one hand, for the Abertzale left, immersed in a strategic reflection through the abian debate, it can be an incentive for internal cohesion and to stimulate the passion and value of the struggle. On the other hand, the results of the general elections in Spain have evidenced the need for EH Bildu for external communication and the activation of the electorate. Regarding communication, the Abertzale left has historically always had the capacity to incorporate its own conceptual frameworks in the political debate and to make known the terms that citizenship has made us. Well, in recent times, supported by the thrust of mass Media, it has been a tough opponent who has left Madrid. The key to EH Bildu's confrontation with Podemos is that independence is the wager of those who bet on another social and economic model and, therefore, EH Bildu is the instrument of social sovereignty of citizens. It would be too much to pull Otegi back, but it should be borne in mind that sometimes it is enough to put a bad piece in the composition of tetris. The social foundations of EH Bildu and Arnaldo Otegi himself are questions to reflect.