Politics

Consuls from all over the world and representatives of international organisations attended the swearing-in ceremony, in which Artur Mas took office. All of them stressed the “good relations” between their countries and Catalonia, which they believe will not change.

Artur Mas has finally decided upon the composition of his government. Mas waited to swear office and officially become President of the Catalan Government to make public his ministers’ names. Harvard and Berkeley professor Andreu Mas-Colell will be the Economy and Universities Minister. ESADE professor and international consultant, Francesc Xavier Mena will be in charge of Business and Employment. Socialist Ferran Mascarell accepted Mas’ offer to become the next Culture Minister. The Christian-Democrats hold the Vice Presidency and responsibilities on Public Administration, Relations with Spain, Agriculture and the Environment.

Finally, after having tried in 2003 and 2006, Artur Mas is invested President of the Catalan Government. The economist has been working in the public sector since 1982. He was a type of Catalan Prime Minister between 2001 and 2003, in the last government of the CiU’s historic leader Jordi Pujol. In fact, Pujol elected Mas as his successor, an image that Mas finally abandoned. During these 7 years leading the opposition, Mas built his own profile and is perceived as a serious, efficient and moderate politician.

The leader of the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition, Convergència i Unió (CiU), is invested President of the Catalan Government by the Catalan Parliament. He will take office next Monday, the 27th of December. The members of his government have not been announced yet. Mas was invested by votes from CiU MPs and the abstention from the Catalan Socialist Party’s MPs.

Artur Mas will become the 129th Catalan President tomorrow. The Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) will facilitate the investiture of the leader of the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU). PSC and CiU agreed that the Socialist would participate in the negotiations between Catalonia and Spain. The agreement would also involve the new Catalan Electoral Law.

The Catalan Parliament voted on Artur Mas’ investiture today, but an absolute majority was needed. Mas only received the 62 votes of his group MPs. The other 6 parties voted “no”. The next voting will be on Thursday, the 23rd of December, when only a simple majority will be needed. It is expected that some parties will abstain to facilitate Mas' investiture.

Mas affirmed the beginning of a “national transition” towards the right of Catalans to decide on their own future. A new economic agreement with Spain is a priority in this direction. In addition, the new Catalan President will implement an economic reactivation plan, agreed together with the Parliament and the social agents. The new government will also have 2 expert advisory councils on Economics and Health, organised free of cost by professional associations. Mas also promised that, once the budget improves after the crisis, social policies will represent 55% of the public expenditure.

As expected, Núria de Gispert became the first woman to chair the Catalan Parliament, which has its origins in the 13th Century and is one of the oldest Parliaments in the world. The Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU) holds 4 of the 7 positions within the Bureau, including the chair. The Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) has 2 posts and the Catalan People’s Party (PPC), 1. The 4 smaller parties were not represented in the Bureau.

The Catalan Government approved the continued operation of short distance trains in the Barcelona metropolitan area and regional trains within Catalonia by the public Spanish train operator Renfe. Short-distance trains have been a responsibility of the Catalan Government since the 1st of January of 2010. Regional trains will be transferred on the first day of 2011. The train service ownership will thus change, but the service provider will continue being Renfe.

The second most important person within the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition, Convergència i Unió (CiU), will not form part of the new Catalan Government. Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida will remain in Madrid as the CiU’s spokesperson in the Spanish Parliament. He will be the Catalan Government’s main negotiator with the Spanish Prime Minister, Zapatero. The new Catalan Parliament resulting from the 28th of November elections will be formed next Thursday and the 129th Catalan President will very likely be elected before Christmas.

Zapatero's government justifies the decision to declare the state of alert and guarantees that the Christmas holidays will not suffer any disruptions. However, passengers face new threats as ground staff considers taking industrial action against the plans to privatise the air traffic authority

In an interview with ACN, Ahmad Masa’deh affirms that the UfM should work aside the Middle East political conflict and focus on economic and social projects. The Euro-Mediterranean Summit has been postponed twice this year and most of the Member State experts have not yet been sent to the UfM headquarters.

The organisation’s headquarters in Barcelona are half-empty with only 25 people currently working. The Arab-Israeli conflict is stopping the UfM's set up and the start of projects. The Secretary General of the UfM states that the organisation's work should focus on technical projects in economic and social areas, aside from politics.

Artur Mas began his role as future president, announcing he will collaborate with all and that his first priority is “lifting up Catalonia”. The Socialist leader José Montilla rejected his Parliamentary seat. From Madrid, the People’s Party (PP) interpreted the Catalan results as the first scene to Zapatero’s end. The Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) is judging the defeat as a consequence of the crisis and not the PSOE’s attitude regarding the trimming of the Catalan Statute of Autonomy.

The Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition, ‘Convergència i Unió’ (CiU) wins. The Centre-Right forces get a clear majority in the Catalan Parliament. The governing Left-Wing parties collapse. The Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) gets the worst results in history, which could be fatal for Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero future’s re-election. The speech on immigration control, the economic crisis and Spanish identity gives the Catalan People’s Party (PPC) their best results ever in Catalonia. Catalan Nationalist forces globally increase their absolute majority, despite the collapse of the Left-Wing Catalan Independence Party (ERC). A new populist independence party ‘Solidaritat per la Independència’ (SI), former FC Barcelona’s President Joan Laporta’s party, enters into the Parliament. The Anti-Catalan Nationalist Party ‘Ciudadanos’ (C’s) maintains its 3 seats. The Catalan Green Socialist Party (ICV-EUiA) loses 2 seats.