Elections in Catalonia: separatists obtain absolute majority despite the triumph of socialism

BARCELONA – Even after the most turbulent three years in Catalan politics in almost a century, and in the midst of a pandemic that has reduced turnout to an all-time high, this has not been canceled. the eternal link between supporters and detractors of independence during the regional elections held in Catalonia. The region continues to be divided into two almost equal halves three years after the failed attempt at a unilateral declaration of independence, without seeing its definitive membership in Spain.

The socialist Salvador Illa, former Minister of Health, managed to be the most voted candidate, but the four separatist parties present Parliament will continue to add an absolute majority, so probably the next president of the Generalitat be of the ideology of independence. In reality, the independence movement crossed the threshold of exceeding 50% of the vote for the first time, which will give him greater moral force to demand a self-determination referendum from the government of Madrid.

The Socialist Party (PSC) won by the minimum, winning 33 MPs (23%), the same as Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC), although its candidate, the Catalanist Pere Aragonés, obtained a few thousand votes less. In a result that sketches a sort of triple equality, both were in the wake of Junts per Catalunya, the center-right party led by the charismatic ex-president Carles Puigdemont, exiled in Belgium. Its candidate, Laura Borras, representative of the most radical independence movement, aspired to be the first woman to preside over Catalonia in all of its history.

Below highlights the brilliant irruption of the extreme right of Vox in the Catalan Parliament with 11 deputies, clearly surpassing the other two right-wing parties in Spain. Ciudadanos, which won the last election with 36 MPs, drops to six, and the People’s Party was on the verge of not getting representation, with only three remaining. On the left, the CUP, the independence and anti-capitalist party, doubled the result, reaching nine, while the Catalan branch of Podemos repeated the result with eight.

These were exceptional elections due to the pandemic, which cast the shadow of its postponement over the election even after the campaign had started. This was the preference of the Catalan government, approved by most of the parties. However, the courts overturned the suspension decree, ruling it illegal, and forced the elections to be held, generating great controversy in the networks and a shiver of fear among those chosen by lottery to be part of the polling stations.

In reality, up to 25% of those chosen by chance presented exceptions to justice get rid of his duty. Fear of the coronavirus is growing in the midst of the third wave – last week was the one with the most deaths since October in Spain – and in the face of the slow pace of vaccination. “Both the one who was supposed to be chairman of the table and the replacement did not show up early in the morning. I was the second replacement and it was my turn, ”explains Carlos, in a neighborhood on the outskirts of Barcelona.

Like his table mates, he is dressed in a surgical gown, which gives the school a hospital appearance. And it is that it is 7:30 p.m., in the time slot intended for Covid-19 patients, or people in detention to be a positive contact. Finally, despite the “pandemic of electoral reluctance”, which risks a fine and even a prison sentence, all the tables were able to form and the day passed without problems. But participation suffered greatly. From 78% recorded in 2017 this time, it fell to just 53%.

The elections were called automatically after the courts have disqualified the president of the Generalitat, Quim Torra, from Junts. The reason was that Torra, in a conscious act of disobedience, refused to remove a banner from the balcony of the Generalitat Palace in the 2019 municipal elections, as requested by the Electoral Council. The banner has been interpreted as a partisan statement of support for “political prisoners”, referring to members of the Catalan government jailed for organizing the 2017 independence referendum.

Precisely, the fate of prisoners is one of the questions that most strained Catalan politics. All of them, including ERC leader Oriol Junqueras, were given the third degree in prison a few weeks ago, which allowed them to attend the rallies and the campaign. The government of Pedro Sanchez could grant them clemency for the next few weeks, a very controversial issue in the rest of Spain.

And the fact is that the Catalan elections have never had such an impact on Spanish politics, due to the existence of a minority government and, above all, the internal crises of several parties, in particular the PP and the citizens. . The humiliating defeat of these against Vox in Catalonia could cause the downfall of their leaders or a reorientation of their political strategy.

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