New Lehendakari Iñigo Urkullu takes oath in front of Tree of Gernika

Iñigo Urkullu who was appointed as new Basque prime minister, or lehendakari, on Thursday, took his oath in the Assembly House in front of the Tree of Gernika on Saturday morning.

Urkullu took his oath using the traditional oath that used the first Basque Premier Jose Antonio Agirre in 1936, also used later by former lehendakaris Carlos Garaikoetxea, Jose Antonio Ardanza and Juan Jose Ibarretxe.

"Humble in front of God and my people, standing on Basque land, under the tree of Gernika, with the memory of our ancestors, I swear before you, representatives of the Basque citizens, to faithfully carry out my duties as lehendakari," Urkullu said in Basque language.

His oath included a small personal twist as the original oath included the word 'humiliated' instead of 'humble'.

Iñigo Urkullu, whose Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) won regional elections in the Basque Country in October, unveiled during the week his plans for this term of office as well as the names of his cabinet.

Urkullu's party did not reach any agreement with other political parties to set up a coalition government and formed a single-party government. He will need to reach agreements with other parties in parliament and his party has just 27 seats in the 75-seat chamber.

Urkullu has already announced he will present Spain´s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy a proposal to negotiate a new status for the Basque Country in 2013.