ciutadans

The pro-independence forces in the Catalan Parliament, governing cross-party list ‘Junts Pel Sí’ and radical left CUP, reaffirmed this Thursday the agreement to start building the Catalan Republic, which was approved by the Catalan Chamber on the 9th of November and later suspended by the Spanish Constitutional Court (TC). Both parties have supported the motion presented by CUP which aimed to relight the proposal. Thus, 71 MPs of the 135 sitting in the Parliament voted in favour, while the 11 MPs from alternative left ‘Catalunya Sí que es Pot’ have abstained. Spanish Unionist ‘Ciutadans’, Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) and Catalan People’s Party (PPC), which is the Catalan branch of the conservative and current governing party in Spain PP, voted against the motion. “We are here to do what we said we would do” stated ‘Junts Pel Sí’ MP, songwriter and anti-Franco activist, Lluís Llach. On the other hand, PPC’s Xavier García Albiol stated that the vote didn’t mean anything as “Catalonia will continue to be Spain, whether you like it or not”.

Spanish Socialist leader Pedro Sánchez was rejected again this Friday by the Spanish Parliament. The Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE)’s candidate to form a new government in Spain got only 131 votes in favour, from the 350-seat Spanish Parliament. As opposed to in the first round of the investiture debate, the MP from the Canarian Coalition (CC) voted in favour of Sánchez rather than abstaining. The other parties in the Spanish Parliament, the current governing party, the conservative People’s Party (PP), alternative left Podemos and Catalan pro-independence parties ERC and ‘Democràcia i Llibertat’ voted against his investiture, totalling 219 votes. Now it will be time for Spain’s King, Philip VII, to decide the further steps to be taken. 

Spanish Socialist leader Pedro Sánchez has failed in his effort to be invested in the first round of the Spanish Investiture debate. He only obtained the support 130 MPs in the 350-seats Spanish Parliament. The 90 MPs from Sánchez’s own party, Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) and the 40 from Unionist Ciutadans voted in favour, the MP from Canary Coalition (CC) abstained from voting and all the other parties, including the current governing party, conservative People’s Party, alternative left Podemos and Catalan pro-independence parties ERC and ‘Democràcia i Llibertat’ voted against his investiture. The next round in voting will take place on Friday. During the investiture debate, Sánchez invited PP and Podemos to join his alliance with Ciutadans and assured that he will “never” accept a referendum in Catalonia as it would be “the worst way” to break Spain apart. For his part, Catalan President Carles Puigdemont stated that Sánchez’s failure confirms that there is no alternatSive for Catalonia other than to push for independence.

Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) leader Pedro Sánchez opened this Tuesday the first round of the investiture debate to instate a new Spanish President. During his speech, Sánchez assured that to make “the change” possible it is necessary to reach “a majoritarian agreement” and “leave Mr. Rajoy’s and the People’s Party’s politics behind”. The candidate to form government also stressed that PSOE “doesn’t aim to impose anything and has no red lines” in reference to alternative left Podemos, which has refused to support the agreement reached by PSOE and anti-Catalan nationalism Ciutadans. Sánchez is far from the 176 votes required to be invested on Wednesday, as he has only secured the 90 votes of his own party, 40 from Ciutadans and 1 from the Canary Coalition (CC).

The Parliament’s Bureau accepted this Tuesday the application handed over by the two main pro-independence forces in the Parliament, cross-party list ‘Junts Pel Sí’ and radical left CUP, which requests the creation of three laws: one on social measures, a second on the Catalan tax office and a third on the legal transition. Representatives from the Parliament’s Bureau assured that starting the processing of the three laws complies with the “formal requirements” established by the Catalan Chamber, although the Parliament’s legal services advised them against doing so. Anti-Catalan nationalism ‘Ciutadans’, the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) and the Catalan People’s Party (PPC) have urged the Bureau to reconsider the creation of the framework for the three disconnection laws to be launched, as they consider them not to be a project of consensus.

Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) and anti-Catalan nationalism ‘Ciutadans’ have agreed to form “a reformist and progressive” government. The 66-page document, which both parties signed this Wednesday, includes the commitment to oppose “any attempt to hold a referendum with the objective of launching the auto-determination of any territory in Spain”, in clear reference to Catalonia’s push for independence. The document also aims to launch, during the first month of the term of office, an ‘express reform’ of the Spanish Constitution and start writing a new project at the beginning of 2017. Thus, ‘Ciutadans’ will support PSOE leader Pedro Sánchez’s investiture in the upcoming debate, which will take place on the 1^st of March. However, together both parties have only 130 seats, far from the 176 required to invest Sánchez in the first round.

“Defending national unity” is one of the key points that current Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy established in the People’s Party (PP) proposal for reaching agreements in order to form a stable government in Spain. A national unity “which is threatened”, according to Rajoy. Besides fighting Catalonia’s push for independence, Rajoy’s proposal also includes fighting towards economic recovery, strengthening the basis of the welfare state, fighting against terrorism and reinforcing the democratic bond between citizens and politicians. PP’s leader handed over the document to anti-Catalan nationalism Ciutadans leader Albert Rivera, with whom he held a meeting today. The proposal has also been sent to Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) leader Pedro Sánchez, who is currently attempting to form government. 

The current Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, announced that the processing of the three laws which would prepare Catalonia for its disconnection process from Spain may be taken before the court. According to Rajoy, Spain’s legal services will analyse these laws and if evidence that they “could contradict what it is said in the Constitution” is found “the Spanish government will act as is has done up to now”. “The government is temporary, but the State, the Constitution and the laws are still in force” he warned. Rajoy also announced that the executive will approve this Friday a conflict of jurisdiction to be presented to the Spanish Constitutional Court regarding the creation of the new Catalan Ministry for Foreign Affairs. 

This Wednesday, Spain’s king Philip VI requested Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) leader Pedro Sánchez to start the negotiations with the other groups in the Spanish Parliament so that the first investiture debate can take place. Sánchez assured that he is “aware of the difficulties” but expressed his will to “unblock the current situation” in Spain. PSOE obtained 90 seats from the 350 in the Spanish Parliament and would therefore need the support of both alternative left ‘Podemos’ (68 seats) and anti-Catalan nationalism Ciutadans (40 seats) to reach the absolute majority. However, Podemos has openly expressed its support for holding a referendum in Spain, while both PSOE and Ciutadans have repeatedly rejected the possibility of holding such a poll. The Conservative People’s Party (PP), the party currently governing Spain, obtained 123 MPs in the 20^th of December Spanish elections. 

New Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and the recently named Leader of the Opposition Inés Arrimadas held this Wednesday their first official meeting. At a press conference directly after the meeting, the Catalan government’s spokeswoman, Neus Munté, expressed her hope that the differences regarding the roadmap towards independence, which is “a priority of the new government”, won’t obstruct “the daily management” of the citizens’ needs. Arrimadas described the meeting as “cordial and full of constructive proposals” but lamented that Puigdemont wouldn’t make “any move” to reform Catalonia’s funding system, one of Ciutadans’ core proposals. “If the government renounces negotiation, we will do so in the Spanish Parliament” she stated. 

Current Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy insisted that the Spanish Government’s legal services will “write a report” to evaluate the procedure used in new Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont’s, take office. During the ceremony, Puigdemont didn’t mention Spain’s King nor the Spanish Constitution. “According to this report we will make the appropriate decisions, following the current legislation and the general interests of all the Spanish citizens” he warned. Despite petitions from he other groups in Spanish Parliament, Rajoy admitted that “so far” he “doesn’t intend” to meet with Puigdemont. 

Association of Municipalities for Independence (AMI) president and mayor of Girona city Carles Puigdemont has been instated as Catalan President number 130 by an absolute majority of the Parliament. Puigdemont, a member of cross-party list ‘Junts Pel Sí’ proposed by current Catalan President Artur Mas, obtained 70 votes in favour, 63 against and 2 abstentions. The investiture debate took place this Sunday after a last-minute agreement between pro-independence forces ‘Junts Pel Sí’ and CUP and just before all the legal deadlines were due to expire and new elections would have had to been called in Catalonia.

The results of the 20-D Spanish Elections will force the political parties to reach agreements, as none of them have obtained an absolute majority of 175 MPs. Anti-Catalan nationalism ‘Ciutadans’, which obtained 40 MPs in the 20-D, have proposed a coalition whereby they, the conservative People’s Party (PP) and the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) would unite against “those who want to break the country apart”. “If there isn’t a roadmap for change, there won’t ever be stability and the populists will take advantage of our system’s decadence” warned Ciutadans’ leader, Albert Rivera, and added that “Spain is not negotiable”. Ciutadans’ offer comes after the PSOE refused the PP’s proposal to reach an agreement. The PSOE’s leader, Pedro Sánchez, insisted on their ‘no’ to Mariano Rajoy and assured that they would work to form a government of change. 

Current Catalan President Artur Mas congratulated the winning list in Catalonia running for the Spanish Elections, alternative left coalition En Comú Podem and emphasised the coalition’s commitment to Catalonia’s right to decide. “We take Podemos at their word and ask them not to take a single step backwards” he stated. Mas admitted that Democràcia i Llibertat, the coalition which includes his party, liberal CDC, didn’t obtain the expected results, “we have been mercilessly attacked by the Spanish State’s powers” he said. Left wing pro-independence ERC’s candidate for Barcelona, Gabriel Rufián, noted that his party “obtained its best result ever” in the Spanish Elections “we have tripled the result of 2011” he emphasised. “Those who have been repeatedly ignored and who don’t have the support of any factional power have won the elections in Catalonia” stated Barcelona’s mayor Ada Colau, referring to the En Comú candidates, which were part of the En Comú Podem coalition. 

The party led by Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has obtained 123 MPs from the 350 in the Spanish Parliament, which represents a decline of 63 seats in comparison to the last Spanish Elections. The Spanish Socialist Party, PSOE, has obtained 90 seats, 20 less than in 2011 and the two new parties running for the Spanish Elections for the first time, alternative left Podemos and anti-Catalan nationalism Ciutadans, got 68 and 40 seats respectively. In Catalonia, alternative left coalition En Comú Podem has won the elections, obtaining 12 MPs. Pro-independence left wing ERC has obtained 9 MPs, three times more than in the 2011 elections. Democràcia i Llibertat got 8 MPs and Catalan Socialist Party 7 MPs, half of what they obtained in 2011. Ciutadans have secured 5 representatives in their first time running for the Spanish Elections, the same number of seats as the Catalan People’s Party (PPC). The overall turnout in the whole of Spain was 73.22%.