Catalunya goes to the polls
Thursday, December 21, 2017 @ 11:39 AM
CATALUNYA residents will vote today (Thursday) in a regional election called by Spain's central government in response to the disputed independence referendum on October 1.
Standing for president are the now-ex leader Carles Puigdemont from the party Junts per Catalunya ('Together for Catalunya'), who is currently exiled in Belgium and knows he will be arrested immediately if he sets foot on Spanish soil again; Xavier Domènech of Catalunya En Comú; socialist leader Miquel Iceta; Ciudadanos' leader Inés Arrimadas, and PP boss Xavier García Albiol, among others.
Iceta's electoral campaign is focused entirely on reaching agreements between the different political parties at regional and State level in order to get Catalunya back on an even keel, whilst Sra Arrimadas has centred on education, health and the economy – and, naturally, the fact that the independence battle was 'illegal', or against Spain's Constitution.
If either get into power, no attempt at secession would get off the ground, as both parties disagree with the move.
Albiol speaks of 'stability' and 'legality', echoing the words of his counterpart in national government, Spain's president Mariano Rajoy.
Domènech's programme is the most left-wing and pro-social of all, whilst Puigdemont continues with his separatist ambitions and rails against the State's having triggered Article 155 of the Constitution, placing Catalunya under national government rule.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com