The PNV opens a new era with Aitor Esteban at its head. What has been for years the The most visible face of the Jeltzales in the Congress of Deputies has taken over from Andoni Ortuzar as president of the PNV at the party's 9th General Assembly in San Sebastián this Sunday. Achieving the national liberation of Euskadi, maintaining the cohesion of Basque society, and strengthening the welfare state remain on the list of milestones that Esteban's renewed executive aims to achieve. But, beyond that, the new leader called for unity and urged the banishment of "laziness and disloyalty" from the ranks of the PNV. If there are disagreements, he warned, they must be channeled internally. "There are not two souls in the PNV. There are 22,000! Those of each member of the party," exclaimed Esteban, excited, as he took the makila –traditional Basque walking stick from the hands of his ancestor. Ortuzar said he was giving up challenging him for the leadership. of the party after 12 years as president to avoid the internal division that a confrontation would have caused. "Before names, what matters is preserving the party as a fundamental instrument for the freedom of this people," Esteban said.

Aitor Esteban (Bilbao, 1962) has been involved in politics all his life, always in the PNV. He has a doctorate in law from the University of Deusto and since 1991, when he joined the Provincial Council of Vizcaya as secretary general of the Presidency and spokesman, he has not stopped. He learned from one of the best, Xabier Arzalluz, and in his shadow a group of young people, among whom were Iñigo Urkullu and Andoni Ortuzar, formed a group that became known as the Jobubis (Young Burukides Vizcaínos) who little by little won battles until they managed to control the party. On Wednesday, in his last control session in Congress, he said goodbye to a standing ovation from a good part of the deputies.