@ken_shabby can you share with us what is the process for forming the next Catalan government. Is it correct to assume that only those in the building can vote to appoint a ruling coalition? This article implies that there is a dedline of 20th January to form a government.
It also suggests that those in exile or jail cannot participate without special permission.
@ken_shabby can you share with us what is the process for forming the next Catalan government. Is it correct to assume that only those in the building can vote to appoint a ruling coalition? This article implies that there is a dedline of 20th January to form a government.
It also suggests that those in exile or jail cannot participate without special permission.
Sorry for the delay, I was too happy yesterday to want to discuss Catalonia. Basically, the outline is broadly like the UK, in that you really need a working majority to form a government. The Independentists have this, while the Anti Secessionists do not.
From there it disinegrates rapidly. The two main parties, ERC and JuntsPerCat both have members of their slate who are in prison or in Brussels. The law states that they cannot vote from outside parliament. Regarding the Investment of Puigdemont as president of Catalunya, Mariano Rajoy has scathingly said that if the judge grants him a few hours outside prison, he can use that to be presented as president, but he will then go back (the assumption being that on arrival in Spain, he will be arrested and put in preventative prison.
The secessionisys are currently discussing making an immediate rule change when parliament opens, to allow people to vote when they are not there. Quite where they will go with that is anybodoes guess.
One of the likely members of parliament, Anna Forcadell, has been advised by her lawyer not to accept any posts in the parliament. As president of the previous government, she oversaw the voting on the 'law of disconnection' which the Seccesionists brought into law. With their 72 seats, the voted this in, but both Catalan and Spanish law require a two thirds majority for a major constitutional change, which they did not remotely have, When she announced the result as having been passed by parliament, she quite knowingly broke the law as well as bypassing a huge percentage of the population, and in the aftermath, she was jailed for rebellion. She was allowed out after promising to uphold the constitution, and it says something about what we can expect from these guys in the next legislatura that she has been advised to avoid being seen as a leader. As I said, Carles Puigdemnont has already outlined his proposals including seizing control of the airports, rail network and roads, introducing a Catalan digital currency (I suppose in case the Euro becomes invalid) and a series of exciting labour reforms which sound great but would need a lot of extra money to pay for. Anyone who does that and signs it into law will provoke another round of arrests, but I'll leave it there as I am well ahead of where we are now.
Brexit. They are negotiating as of now. Here on the other hand, Independence is temporarily stalled, though a lot of politicians away from the top table still want to press ahead unilaterally on the back of the illegal referendum vote.
I'll offer an update if anyone is still following this. To be honest it is all starting to seethe again though for the moment we don't have any big demonstrations just yet. The Catalan elections left the Independence block with a majority of seats (if not necessarily votes, and it looked an easy option for the ERC (Republican Catalan Left) and the JperCat (together for Catalunya) to join up and form a new government. However they proceeded to squabble for the entire time they had available to form a government about who would be on the Official table (a five person office within the Parliament which is 'meant' to ensure the debates and measures voted stay within the law and constitution. The sticking point was that ERC wanted their guy Jonqueras in a major position although he is currently in prison. JperCat wanted Puigdemont as president although he is hiding in Brussels. The debate was interminable and petty insults were thrown, but on the last day they agreed a leader from the ERC called Torrent. He offered a relatively concilliatory tone in his inaugural address and mentined he wanted to heal breaches in the Catalan society, which lead to him being denounced by the anti system CUP for not instantly declaring a Republic. However I caught him on the Catalan government funded televisión that night and while he didn't actively say what he planned, it was fairly clear it was full speed ahead with Independence as they had a 'clear mandate from the Catalan people'.
The next step was president. JperC declared the only option was Puigdemont, and that he should be inaugurated via satélite from Brussels. This was instantly denounced by all the constitutionalist parties and the Spanish government as inviable and illegal as the constitution demands a physical presence rather than a fugitive from the law. At this point Sr Torrent held a series of interviews with all the parties concerned, but as was expected, he only listened to a few because he said yesterday that Puigdemnont would be his nomination and he would seek to hold talks with Mariano Rajoy to see how posible this was. The answer will be imposible - outside Republican Catalunya, Rajoy has no legitimacy (except in the Independent and Sinn Fein) so this is going nowhere.
This simply looks like another attempt by the Republicans to ramp up public feeling here. Puigdemont could be voted in by allowing the exiles and the imprisoned to vote (which in itself is problematic) but that will instantly mean Spain will actívate article 155 again and disolve the parliament and the autonomy of Catalunya. It beggars beleif that the Independence block cannot find other candidates so the suggestion is that this is happening to provoke another confrontation. That will probably trigger fresh elections, and it's unlikely that the population will vote differently than they did in december. There is a huge división in Catalan society and the current process has done nothing to even attempt to heal that, despite Sr. Torrent and his empty words. So back to square one, in a society where people now happily refer as 'fascist' to anyone who disagrees with their point of view regarding the Independence saga.
Finally, a word for the Periodico newspaper. After the Ramblas terror attacks last august, the CIA told us they had advised the Catalan Pólice (the Mossos d'Esquadra) that they had specifically advised of a threat in the summer against tourists on the Ramblas. This was immediately denounced by everyone conected with the Independence Process, and it was additionally suggested here that the Guardia Civil were the pólice forcé who had actually been informed, but had withheld the document as part of Spain's ongoing persecution of Catalunya. At this point the Catalan newspaper, El Periodico announced they had been shown copies of the document, and they were addressed to the Mossos. The politicians, Catalan press and TV and anyone pro Independence denounced them as a proto fascist rag lying on behalf of Madrid (even that idioyt Julian Assange felt he needed to acuse the newspaper of lying despite the fact he was locked up in an embassy at the time so couldn't really prove anything regarding his views apart from that he had them). However, on october the 20th, the Mossos were caught by the National Pólice trying to burn documents relating to the Independence vote and the Mosso's supposed collaboration, and yesterday it was announced that among the documents they tried to burn was the note from the CIA warning about the terror attack. Apologies have been notable by their abscence as the Republicans will NOT NOT NOT apologise to anyone as they are right and everyone else is a fascist. This comes a week after the end of trials for the ex director of teh Catalan palace of Music and some politicians of Puigdemonts' ex ruling party. They spent years charging a 3% comisión for every application for public Works in Catalunya. Around 25% was channeled into party coffers and they kept the rest to live it up. I mention this as one of the shakey reasons the Indepes offer when asked about why they want Independence is Spanish Corruption. It's everywhere. The Spanish government are on the point of having their panys yanked firmly down in public as they are being tried (individually, not as a party) for exactly the same offence in Valencia.
Sorry to be so long winded, and congrats to anyone who reached the end of the essay.
An interesting article on the party Ciudadanos, who may end up being the major beneficiary of the Catalan crisis by transferring their popularity further to the national stage in the next general elections. Makes comparisons to Macron as well as part of a liberal centre to centre right movement in Europe to oppose the more extreme populist movements.
Puigdemont has just been arrested in Germany whilst on his way back from Finland to Belgium. This, combined with the jailing of more Catalan ministers including the suggested alternative for president, is likely to really inflame the situation at the moment.
Things could get very difficult again here and I'm really hoping that everyone keeps a level head. There are likely to be big protests in Catalunya again and the government will have to be very careful with their response to this or they will come out looking terrible again, which will in turn further the independents' cause.
A year on from all the noise last october. We now have the xenophobic Quim Torra as president of Catalunya. On taking the job on, some of his more radical outbursts on twitter promptly surfaced, including one stating that 'Spanish people are like vipers, jackals or hyenas….disgusting'. The Catalan parliament were quick to claim these statements were 'taken out of context', but given his more recent views, that sounds fairly unlikely.
Since Mariano Raojoy and his Popular Party were finally unseated in a no confidence vote, Spain has been under the minority socialist government of Pedro Sánchez. In order to maintain any sort of working coalition he has had to forge relationships with all the minority parties, including the Catalan secessionists like PdeCat and ERC. The reult has been that he has begun to make concessions to Catalunya regarding funding and a discussion of autonomy. To be pragmatic this is all to the good. A certain percentage of the wrath in the independent minded section of the Catalan population came from Mariano Rajoy refusing to offer them anything at all, though the fact that the recession made some of their demands impractical never surfaced. So there has been a certain easing of tensión over the summer in some quarters. Not however with the President. Sr Torra has stated over and over again that Catalunya is on an unstoppable path to Independence and the only thing the Catalan people Will accept is a binding referéndum followed by a swuft disconnexion with Spain. The socialists have chosen to see this as 'playing to the gallery' a bit, and taking these sort of populist statements with a pinch of salt. While it's been nice to enjoy a summer free of the CDR's (Comitte for the Defence of the Republic) desires to bring the country to a standstill, I can only see the Socialists view as very short termist to be polite, and naive otherwise. The secessionists do not have a majority in Catalunya, but they have big numbers, and a radicalised population. Continually stirring them with dreams of a son to be realised Independence is to sow electoral promises of a very real type - at some point you have to deliver. A poll I saw yesterday suggested that the Seccesionists have lost some ground in Catalunya and in an election may not be able to command a majority. But it's hugely close.
So onto yesterday, the anniversary of the illegal referéndum. The CDR's had promised actiona nd protests for today, and the result was we had roads and rail links severed all over Catalunya. There were two rival protests in Barcelona on saturday, and the radical Seccesionists had to be dispersed by the Catalan pólice, the Mossos, with baton charges reminiscent of last year. Yesterday morning in the misdst of all the action, Quim Torra stood in front of a microphone and praised the CDR's for their 'pressure, and `pressing'. In the evening, they attacked the Catalan parliament, accusing Torra of treachery, and demanding he either declare the republic or resign, among other stuff, and the parliament had to be escorted out by the Police, while the demo was broken up by the pólice weilding batons.
There's a part of me that sees a lot of humour in a president so idiotic he calls these sort of actions 'democracy' and then is forced out of his parliament building by his own radical suportes. A phrase about supping with the devil and using a long spoon. But it sums up how little we have moved here. The succesionists continue to control Catalan televisión, which continues to show a one eyed view of the situation, meaning that while everyone in Catalunya pays for it, it only represents and agressive 42%. The schools are also under the thump of Independence, and school books are issued stating a view of history that would embarrass anyone who studied the subject. As @CharltonMadrid said earlier, you hope for level heads, but especially in Catalunya they are few, and the ones in the Independence side have been shunted aside. It'll be interesting to see how the Govern play this out. Puigdemont has already distanced himself from the attack on parliament, stating that violnce and masked faces have nothing to do with the 1st October movenment. Fine words from a man who broke a series of laws in the Catalan constitution in order to try and seize power.
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It also suggests that those in exile or jail cannot participate without special permission.
Tabarnia to break away from Catalunya next...
From there it disinegrates rapidly. The two main parties, ERC and JuntsPerCat both have members of their slate who are in prison or in Brussels. The law states that they cannot vote from outside parliament. Regarding the Investment of Puigdemont as president of Catalunya, Mariano Rajoy has scathingly said that if the judge grants him a few hours outside prison, he can use that to be presented as president, but he will then go back (the assumption being that on arrival in Spain, he will be arrested and put in preventative prison.
The secessionisys are currently discussing making an immediate rule change when parliament opens, to allow people to vote when they are not there. Quite where they will go with that is anybodoes guess.
One of the likely members of parliament, Anna Forcadell, has been advised by her lawyer not to accept any posts in the parliament. As president of the previous government, she oversaw the voting on the 'law of disconnection' which the Seccesionists brought into law. With their 72 seats, the voted this in, but both Catalan and Spanish law require a two thirds majority for a major constitutional change, which they did not remotely have, When she announced the result as having been passed by parliament, she quite knowingly broke the law as well as bypassing a huge percentage of the population, and in the aftermath, she was jailed for rebellion. She was allowed out after promising to uphold the constitution, and it says something about what we can expect from these guys in the next legislatura that she has been advised to avoid being seen as a leader. As I said, Carles Puigdemnont has already outlined his proposals including seizing control of the airports, rail network and roads, introducing a Catalan digital currency (I suppose in case the Euro becomes invalid) and a series of exciting labour reforms which sound great but would need a lot of extra money to pay for. Anyone who does that and signs it into law will provoke another round of arrests, but I'll leave it there as I am well ahead of where we are now.
Fictional Catalan region of Tabarnia appoints first president
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/16/fictional-region-tabarnia-aiming-leave-catalonia-appoints-president?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Copy_to_clipboard
The next step was president. JperC declared the only option was Puigdemont, and that he should be inaugurated via satélite from Brussels. This was instantly denounced by all the constitutionalist parties and the Spanish government as inviable and illegal as the constitution demands a physical presence rather than a fugitive from the law. At this point Sr Torrent held a series of interviews with all the parties concerned, but as was expected, he only listened to a few because he said yesterday that Puigdemnont would be his nomination and he would seek to hold talks with Mariano Rajoy to see how posible this was. The answer will be imposible - outside Republican Catalunya, Rajoy has no legitimacy (except in the Independent and Sinn Fein) so this is going nowhere.
This simply looks like another attempt by the Republicans to ramp up public feeling here. Puigdemont could be voted in by allowing the exiles and the imprisoned to vote (which in itself is problematic) but that will instantly mean Spain will actívate article 155 again and disolve the parliament and the autonomy of Catalunya. It beggars beleif that the Independence block cannot find other candidates so the suggestion is that this is happening to provoke another confrontation. That will probably trigger fresh elections, and it's unlikely that the population will vote differently than they did in december. There is a huge división in Catalan society and the current process has done nothing to even attempt to heal that, despite Sr. Torrent and his empty words. So back to square one, in a society where people now happily refer as 'fascist' to anyone who disagrees with their point of view regarding the Independence saga.
Finally, a word for the Periodico newspaper. After the Ramblas terror attacks last august, the CIA told us they had advised the Catalan Pólice (the Mossos d'Esquadra) that they had specifically advised of a threat in the summer against tourists on the Ramblas. This was immediately denounced by everyone conected with the Independence Process, and it was additionally suggested here that the Guardia Civil were the pólice forcé who had actually been informed, but had withheld the document as part of Spain's ongoing persecution of Catalunya. At this point the Catalan newspaper, El Periodico announced they had been shown copies of the document, and they were addressed to the Mossos. The politicians, Catalan press and TV and anyone pro Independence denounced them as a proto fascist rag lying on behalf of Madrid (even that idioyt Julian Assange felt he needed to acuse the newspaper of lying despite the fact he was locked up in an embassy at the time so couldn't really prove anything regarding his views apart from that he had them). However, on october the 20th, the Mossos were caught by the National Pólice trying to burn documents relating to the Independence vote and the Mosso's supposed collaboration, and yesterday it was announced that among the documents they tried to burn was the note from the CIA warning about the terror attack. Apologies have been notable by their abscence as the Republicans will NOT NOT NOT apologise to anyone as they are right and everyone else is a fascist. This comes a week after the end of trials for the ex director of teh Catalan palace of Music and some politicians of Puigdemonts' ex ruling party. They spent years charging a 3% comisión for every application for public Works in Catalunya. Around 25% was channeled into party coffers and they kept the rest to live it up. I mention this as one of the shakey reasons the Indepes offer when asked about why they want Independence is Spanish Corruption. It's everywhere. The Spanish government are on the point of having their panys yanked firmly down in public as they are being tried (individually, not as a party) for exactly the same offence in Valencia.
Sorry to be so long winded, and congrats to anyone who reached the end of the essay.
https://elpais.com/elpais/2018/01/29/inenglish/1517220410_709890.html?id_externo_rsoc=FB_CM_EN
Puigdemont abandons Catalan presidency - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-43249664
Things could get very difficult again here and I'm really hoping that everyone keeps a level head. There are likely to be big protests in Catalunya again and the government will have to be very careful with their response to this or they will come out looking terrible again, which will in turn further the independents' cause.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43532217
Since Mariano Raojoy and his Popular Party were finally unseated in a no confidence vote, Spain has been under the minority socialist government of Pedro Sánchez. In order to maintain any sort of working coalition he has had to forge relationships with all the minority parties, including the Catalan secessionists like PdeCat and ERC. The reult has been that he has begun to make concessions to Catalunya regarding funding and a discussion of autonomy. To be pragmatic this is all to the good. A certain percentage of the wrath in the independent minded section of the Catalan population came from Mariano Rajoy refusing to offer them anything at all, though the fact that the recession made some of their demands impractical never surfaced. So there has been a certain easing of tensión over the summer in some quarters. Not however with the President. Sr Torra has stated over and over again that Catalunya is on an unstoppable path to Independence and the only thing the Catalan people Will accept is a binding referéndum followed by a swuft disconnexion with Spain. The socialists have chosen to see this as 'playing to the gallery' a bit, and taking these sort of populist statements with a pinch of salt. While it's been nice to enjoy a summer free of the CDR's (Comitte for the Defence of the Republic) desires to bring the country to a standstill, I can only see the Socialists view as very short termist to be polite, and naive otherwise. The secessionists do not have a majority in Catalunya, but they have big numbers, and a radicalised population. Continually stirring them with dreams of a son to be realised Independence is to sow electoral promises of a very real type - at some point you have to deliver. A poll I saw yesterday suggested that the Seccesionists have lost some ground in Catalunya and in an election may not be able to command a majority. But it's hugely close.
So onto yesterday, the anniversary of the illegal referéndum. The CDR's had promised actiona nd protests for today, and the result was we had roads and rail links severed all over Catalunya. There were two rival protests in Barcelona on saturday, and the radical Seccesionists had to be dispersed by the Catalan pólice, the Mossos, with baton charges reminiscent of last year. Yesterday morning in the misdst of all the action, Quim Torra stood in front of a microphone and praised the CDR's for their 'pressure, and `pressing'. In the evening, they attacked the Catalan parliament, accusing Torra of treachery, and demanding he either declare the republic or resign, among other stuff, and the parliament had to be escorted out by the Police, while the demo was broken up by the pólice weilding batons.
There's a part of me that sees a lot of humour in a president so idiotic he calls these sort of actions 'democracy' and then is forced out of his parliament building by his own radical suportes. A phrase about supping with the devil and using a long spoon. But it sums up how little we have moved here. The succesionists continue to control Catalan televisión, which continues to show a one eyed view of the situation, meaning that while everyone in Catalunya pays for it, it only represents and agressive 42%. The schools are also under the thump of Independence, and school books are issued stating a view of history that would embarrass anyone who studied the subject. As @CharltonMadrid said earlier, you hope for level heads, but especially in Catalunya they are few, and the ones in the Independence side have been shunted aside. It'll be interesting to see how the Govern play this out. Puigdemont has already distanced himself from the attack on parliament, stating that violnce and masked faces have nothing to do with the 1st October movenment. Fine words from a man who broke a series of laws in the Catalan constitution in order to try and seize power.