 Under the plan, the two million people in this northern region would remain Spanish citizens but divided into two overlapping categories of Basques, defined as "citizens" and "nationals".The plan provided for the Basque regional government's right to call referendums, opening the door to a possible future vote on independence, while removing a Spanish government right to suspend the regional government's powers.The Spanish Government, led by the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party premier José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, and leading Spanish academics viewed the Ibarretxe Plan as contrary to the Spanish Constitution, this view being shared by the main opposition party Partido Popular.