Catalan Parties Standing on September 27th

For and Against Independence

A brief summary in English of those parties that currently have representation in the Catalan parliament and are standing for election in the Catalan elections on September 27th.

This excellent overview was posted by Mathew Barton on Facebook and he has very kindly allowed me to reproduce it here.


Pro-Independence Parties:

1. JxSí - Junts pel Sí ('Together for YES') A coalition of the centre-right party Convergència Democràtica (CDC), which has governed Catalonia for most of the democratic period in Spain, since 1978, and Esquerra Repúblicana de Catalunya, a social-democratic party which has been junior partner in coalition with other parties of the left, in the period 2003-2010. If Junts pel Sí has a majority, it will begin the process of constructing a State, the writing of a new Constitution, and then submit this to referendum within 18 months. The objective is to be an entirely independent State, within the EU, by 2017.

2. CUP - Candidatura d'Unitat Popular ('Popular Unity Candidacy') My party, a formation of the radical Left, which governs in many places at municipal level, and which would declare independence unilaterally, leave the EU and NATO, and enable a constitutional process of the people, collectivising and cooperativising public services, and dismantling capitalism.

Anti-Independence Parties:

3. PP - Partido Popular ('Popular Party') Spanish-wide party, currently governing Spain, sprung from the roots of the Spanish hard-right. Neo-liberal, Spanish nationalist, Establishment party. Opposes independence and any possibility of a referendum or any type of constitutional reform. Would greatly limit the autonomy of Spain's autonomous communities if it could. Currently blighted by cases of corruption.

4. C's - Ciudadanos. ('Citizens') New party, founded in Catalonia in 2005 to oppose Catalan separatism. Neo-liberal, in favour of territorial status quo, anti-corruption. Most direct competition to the PP, as it has the same ideology.

5. PSC - Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya ('Party of the Socialists of Catalonia') Socialist party which has done the same as the British Labour Party until yesterday - abandoned socialism. Now defends neo-liberalism with social-democratic touches. Theoretically in favour of a referendum and the right to decide of Catalonia, but entirely conditioned by its big brother, the Spanish Socialist Party, of which it is a federation.

6. Catalunya, Sí que Es Pot ('Catalonia, Yes we can') Its name is grammatically incorrect in Catalan, so it is hard to translate incorrectly enough. This is a party formed this year and is a coalition between: ICV, a Left/Green party with a long history; EUiA, the United Left, the inheritor, to some extent, of Catalan Communism; Equo, a new ecologist party; and the famous Podemos, a populist party which uses vocabulary of the Left without defining itself as such. They defend the right to decide, but within the context of reform of Spain.

7. UDC - Unió Democràtica de Catalunya ('Democratic Union of Catalonia') This is a social-Christian party, neo-liberal, traditionalist, whcih used to be in coalition with CDC, but is no longer because CDC now defends independence, and UDC defends a confederal Spain.

Mathew's Prediction?

Of 135 seats in the Catalan parliament, I predict the following:

1. 66 seats
2. 10 seats
3. 14 seats
4. 20 seats
5. 12 seats
6. 13 seats
7. 0 seats

The absolute majority is at 68 seats, obviously, so JxSí will need the CUP to declare independence. CUP will demand a Unilateral Declaration of Independence. The fun will come seeing how the JxSí deputies react, because some of them will chicken out when it comes to the moment of truth, I suspect. My lot will be setting up barricades.



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Impartial observer Not rated yet
An analysis from an extremely left wing point of view. To consider that C's has the same ideology as PP which is described as springing from the roots …

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