The Fourth Turning intensifies.
Catalan leader to step up independence push as 80% vote to split from Spain
Artur Mas says symbolic poll is a ‘lesson in democracy’ and calls for a binding referendum on independence
With more than 2m votes cast, Mas called the symbolic referendum a “lesson in democracy, spelled out in capital letters”. He said he would send a letter on Monday to Spain’s prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, urging him to confront “the Catalan question” with a formal, binding referendum on independence.
“We want to decide a new political future. All nations have a right to do so and mature democracies respect that,” said Mas.
After months of tense legal wrangling between Madrid and Barcelona, Catalan leaders were forced to water down their plans for a formal referendum and turn it into a symbolic vote, staffed by 41,000 volunteers and voters who registered on the spot.
Until polling stations opened on Sunday morning, doubts remained as to whether the vote would take place.
On Sunday, the atmosphere on the streets of Barcelona was festive, as young and old made their way to polling stations across the city, some wrapped in Catalan flags and others snapping selfies as they cast their ballots.
Voters were asked two questions: whether Catalonia should be a state, and if they replied yes, they were asked if it should be an independent state. Early results showed that 80.7% of voters replied yes to both questions, said the Catalan vice-president, Joana Ortega.
Just over 10% voted yes to the first question and no to the second, while 4.5% voted no to both questions. While there was no formal electoral roll, the regional government said that 5.4 million Catalans and resident foreigners were eligible to vote.
Pro-independence groups hoped that a large turnout would prompt central government to negotiate tax and political autonomy with the region or pave the way for a formal referendum.
“Even if it’s symbolic, at least we’ll show we want to express our opinion and have some sort of result to push the process forward,” said one pro-independence supporter, Felipe Alcalde Rodríguez, after voting. “This is our attempt to be democratic in a state that doesn’t respect democracy.”
As reports on the millions of voters began to dominate headlines on Sunday evening, the Spanish justice minister, Rafael Catalá, dismissed the vote as “fruitless and useless”, arguing that it had been “carried out on the margin of any legal framework”.
In a statement, he added: “The government considers this to be a day of political propaganda organised by pro-independence forces and devoid of any kind of democratic validity.”
Spain’s public prosecutor, he said, was investigating whether Catalan authorities breached a suspension ordered by the country’s constitutional court by using public buildings such as schools to hold the non-binding, informal vote.
At a rally on Sunday night, the pro-independence Catalan National Assembly celebrated the vote, painting it as a first step towards early elections in the region that could act as a de facto poll in independence.
“Today we demonstrated to the world that the Spanish state isn’t our state and that the Spanish justice system doesn’t instil fear in us with their threats,” leader Carme Forcadell told a crowd of about a thousand people.
Calling the vote a demonstration of force by Catalan nationalists, Emilio Sáenz-Francés, a professor of history and international relations at Madrid’s Comillas Pontifical University, said it was also a wakeup call for Spain’s central government. Despite having no legal validity, the mere fact that the vote was held, he said, “weakened the image of the central government, after it repeatedly told Spaniards this vote would never happen”.
Catalans opposed to independence had called for a boycott of the vote, making it impossible to infer from the results how deep the independence sentiment runs in the region.
But the vote hinted that early elections could leave central government facing off against the Catalan Republican Left, a political party more fiercely committed to independence, he said.
“Rajoy has an interest in keeping Mas, who is more moderate, at the helm of Catalonia,” said Sáenz-Francés. He hoped there would now be dialogue. “It’s time for big solutions. Not just solutions that will carry each party to the next elections, but solutions that will do what’s best for the country in 20 years.”
Final results of the vote will be published at the end of the month.
Catalonians Still Vote in Spain for Independence
Posted on November 10, 2014 by Martin Armstrong
Brussels is going to have to send in tanks and wage war against the people of Europe to keep their bureaucratic jobs. Queues at the referendum on the independence of Catalonia from Spain have demonstrated that you can rule against the people to try to silence them, but that authoritarian rule of Brussels is starting to fail. You can fool the people only so long – eventually the truth surfaces.
Despite a court order forbidding Catalonians from voting, more than five million people have cast their votes on Sunday in a classic show of resistance to Brussels. The people have participated in the “non-binding survey” since the court ruled they were not allowed to vote in a pretend democracy. This now will put pressure on Catalonia’s Vice Prime Minister Joana Ortega in Barcelona.
The Spanish Constitutional Court had the referendum actually prohibited by a constitutional challenge to the central government. Madrid was powerless to stop the “non-binding survey” and the regional government had not taken part in the organization of the vote. Nonetheless, the will of the people is being heard – down with Madrid and Brussels – FREEDOM!
There were more than 1,300 polling stations in the region. More than 40,000 volunteers had set up polls and accepted the ballot. Around 5.5 million voters over the age of 16 were able to participate by presenting their identity cards in the survey. They were able to answer two questions: “Do you want that Catalonia is a country? If so, this country should be independent? ‘
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy stressed that the survey will have no effect. “As long as I am head of government, the Constitution is respected,” he reiterated.“No one will break the unity of Spain.” The prosecutor’s office in Catalonia initiated at the behest of the Madrid Attorney General’s investigation one, if the opening of schools and other public facilities for voting constituted a violation of the decision of the Constitutional Court.
Rajoy is certainly not a real representative of the people. He clearly has no business being in politics since he does not respect the people and only jumps to whatever Brussels demands.
There is a serious political crisis developing in Europe. The polls now show that the Germans are becoming surprisingly skeptical of Brussels at last. Only 43% of German voters have confidence in the EU institutions. Only 38% believe that the EU Parliament even represents their interests. Confidence in Brussels is at all time record lows in Greece, Italy, and France as well. The establishment of a European Parliament has been a complete disaster. The timing has been amazingly in sync with the ECM model.
I always thought the 1960 Pontiac CATALINA was a very nice looking car.
?v=8CDB04DF0035AB0
“If voting actually made any real difference, we wouldn’t be allowed to do it.” — Mark Twain
“Even if it’s symbolic, at least we’ll show we want to express our opinion and have some sort of result to push the process forward,” said one pro-independence supporter, Felipe Alcalde Rodríguez, after voting. “This is our attempt to be democratic in a state that doesn’t respect democracy.”
After months of tense legal wrangling between Madrid and Barcelona, Catalan leaders were forced to water down their plans for a formal referendum and turn it into a symbolic vote, staffed by 41,000 volunteers and voters who registered on the spot.
Until polling stations opened on Sunday morning, doubts remained as to whether the vote would take place.
It’s beginning, 5+ years after we thought it would.. Not exactly following the timetable…