MADRID, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- The ETA announcement of a ceasefire on Sunday didn't come as a big surprise as the radical Basque separatist group has been weakened by consistent government crackdown in recent years and is facing calls for ceasefire within the group.
The announcement arrives just two days after the ETA political wing Batasuna and its ally Eusko Alkartasuna (EA) proposed a ceasefire from the radical organization, which pursues independence for the Basque region in the north of Spain.
The past 10 years have seen changes in the Basque community. Parties with links to militants have consistently been prohibited from having candidates in local, regional and national elections.
Between 10-15 percent of the Basque population habitually voted for parties such as Batasuna and although some have switched their votes to the conservative Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), the Basque Autonomous Community (Euskadi) is now governed by a non-nationalist coalition of the Socialist Party (PSOE ) and the Popular Party (PP).
The PSOE and the right wing PP may seem strange bedfellows, but the two Madrid based parties have been able to find enough common ground in Euskadi to keep the nationalists out of power.
ETA has also suffered a series of military setbacks in recent years with its ability to organize armed attacks damaged by the effective action of French and Spanish police.
Leaders such as Ibon Gogeaskotxea have been arrested among a total of 58 ETA members detained during the current year.
