Madrid and Brussels Can’t Read the Minds of the Catalans
The Catalans have voted: with high
participation (81.94%), they have returned to power the political formation of
Carles Puigdemont, the former President of the Government (‘Generalitat’) of
the autonomous community (i.e., region) of Catalunya.
Puigdemont had held this office until 28 October 2017, when the Catalan Parliament was
dissolved by the central Spanish government.
The Parliament had the previous day declared the independence of the
region, following a local referendum on
1st October in which 90% of the voters had opted for the separation of their region from the state of
Spain. Puigdemont had to flee the country and take refuge in Brussels in order
to avoid incarceration in Spain on the grounds of acts of secession.
The pro-independence movement, led by
Puigdemont, has now won 70 seats in the Parliament, out of a total of 135, and
will form a new government. Its leader is likely to be reappointed President of
the Generalitat.
 |
| Carles Puigdemont (R): Happy again. But Inés Arrimadas (L) has placed the Unionists in a strong opposition role in the new Parliament (EPE/reuters) |
The ‘unionist’ movement, which is in favour
of Catalunya remaining a Spanish province, will have 57 seats in the
Parliament, while 8 seats will be held by non-affiliated members.
The results demonstrate that the desire for
independence remains strong, in spite of systematic intimidation of the Catalan
population by Madrid since last October and large-scale scaremongering about
the region’s economy, in the event the independentists returned to power.
 |
| The configuration of the newly elected Parliament |
The new configuration of the political
landscape indicates that the region will remain highly polarised for the years
to come. The reputation of the European Union as a defender of democratic
values has, in this process, been tarnished in the eyes of the majority of
Catalans. Brussels backed during the October 2017 crisis the Spanish government
and disregarded evidence of political oppression of the Catalan voters and
independentist politicians, exerted by the institutions and police forces under
Madrid’s command.
It is difficult at the present moment to
anticipate the next moves of the new Parliament and Generalitat. Will efforts
of reconciliation be made by Barcelona and Madrid? Will Brussels mediate between the parties and listen to the grievances and expectations of the Catalans? Or will
the Presidents of the European Council and Commission insist in their rhetoric of
“this is an internal Spanish problem, we have nothing to do with it,” which they
had used last October?
The behaviour of the stakeholders will
determine in the weeks to come whether Spain truly possesses the political
maturity necessary to be a Member of the European Union.
The Catalan crisis is also a litmus test
for the integrity of the EU, when it comes to proving that the fundamental
political principles of the Union are applicable not only to third countries
aspiring at joining it, or at signing trade agreements with it, but also to
incumbent members. There is little tolerance these days among the 500 million
European citizens, from Helsinki to Malta, for the Ostrich Approach.
Summary of vote results Cataluña (2017)
|
|
Votes counted
|
99.89%
|
Parliament
seats
|
135
|
Eligible
number of voters
|
5,322,269
|
Participation
|
81.94%
|
Total no. of
votes
|
4,360,843
|
Abstentions
|
961,426
|
Invalid votes
|
16,027
|
Blank votes
|
19,377
|
Source: La Vanguardia. Translated by J.N. Couvas.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.