On 7 October, the councillors from Biscay, along with some from Gipuzkoa and Álava, participated in passing a ballot. A major uprising had occurred in Álava and Navarre, and most of Gipuzkoa was in the hands of the rebels, who, with the political machinations of the councillors, set the stage for major political change. Aguirre was elected lehendakari, or president. After a religious ceremony at the Basilica of Begoña in which he swore allegiance to Catholicism, his country and his party, he visited Guernica and took his oath of office in the Basque language: