Arantza Quiroga (PP) has been confirmed as the next president of the Basque Parliament, after an agreement was reached between the socialists and the PP regarding the investiture of Patxi López as 'lehendakari' (head of the Basque Government).

Arantza Quiroga Cía, who was born in Irun in 1973, has a law degree and is mother to four children, embodies the modern image of Antonio Basagoiti's new generation of PP leaders in the Basque Country.

Ms Quiroga began her political career in the town council of her native Irun in 1995 and three years laters she was elected member of the Basque parliament for Guipúzcoa, a post she has held for the past three legislatures.

Tomorrow, the negotiating committees for the PSE and the PP will sign the agreement which will bring 29 years of Nationalist rule in the Basque Country to an end with the election of a socialist 'lehedakari', Patxi López.

The document, entitled 'Foundations for democratic change for the people of the Basque Country' was made public yesterday and has been criticised today by the nationalists, referring to Patxi as a 'hostage of the reactionary right'.

Spokesperson for the EA (Eusko Alkartasuna), Mikel Irujo, condemned the arrival of a government that will exclude the nationalists, saying it was just like the one Nicolás Redondo Terreros & Jaime Mayor Oreja were looking for in the 2001 elections.

Mayor Oreja, for his part, did not hide his satisfaction with the outcome, saying that an agreement had been reached 'by different means, using different tactics, with more skill, yet less conviction and probably less idealism'.

In Navarra, the Secretary General of the UPN, Alberto Catalán, also added his congratulations for the agreement, saying that 'at last Navarra would be respected amongst the Basque Auntonomous Community institutions'.

Voices from the world of Basque culture have also had their say, with the writer Bernardo Atxaga expressing his 'scepticism' vis à vis the alliance, saying 'no-one can imagine how badly the socialists vision has been blurred to not ally themselves with the PNV'.