Tuesday, November 27, 2012

The elections in Catalonia, 2012



Little of great significance has changed after the recent elections.

As Catalan political analyst Germà Capdevila told The Independent, "These elections haven't solved anything."

But what has happened is that the left separatist party the CUP [Candidatura d'Unitat Popular] now has 3 seats, so for the first time ever there is a genuinely anti-capitalist party in the Catalan Parliament.

 This is a fact that has been completely ignored by mainstream media here and outside the region.




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4 comments:

The Hickory Wind said...

Ey!? Surely Ezquerra Republicana are communists. If they don't count as anti-capitalists I don't know who does. Or have I misunderstood Catalan politics

Brett said...

I think nominally they are technically anti-capitalists but I have friends here who assure me that they are relatively conventional. There is already talk about them supporting Mas' next budget (to be filled with more cuts of course) in exchange for a clear referendum on independence.

To me, that is the act of a party that is supporting a rightist government, not one who is taking on the system.

The Hickory Wind said...

Ah, so you think ERC have joined the establishment. It tends to happen with all ‘radical’groups as soon as they get public money and their leaders are interviewed on television. Which is probably why the new group has been formed.

Brett said...

Yes, that´s always the problem with the organised left from Lenin and Trotsky to Mao or Fidel Castro down to local politics. Orwell was right too when he wrote about the worst people to publicly represent the left were the people of the left themselves. Often still true, sadly.