Mas:
Arrimadas García
Posted on 09/27/2015 10:13:41 AM PDT by BigEdLB
Catalonia is voting in regional elections that nationalist parties hope will set them on the road to independence from Spain. Two separatist parties have joined forces, and are aiming to secure a majority of seats in parliament - 68 out of 135. They say this would allow them to unilaterally declare independence within 18 months. The central government in Madrid has pledged to block such moves in court. Polls suggest a majority of Catalans favour a referendum on independence but are evenly divided over whether they want to secede.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Preliminary verdict on Garcia: NOT GUILTY!
She’s probably going to get a lot of attention because her party is going to be the largest opposition party in the Catalan Parliament. From what I can see her party is like the Free Democrats in Germany, but not sure.
I’ve been re-reading Orwell’s `Homage to Catalonia’, his book on his experiences during the Spanish civil war.
You can see that it is almost a primer for his later `Nineteen Eighty-four’.
I’m reading it too. He’s quite a writer, he learned a lot from that experience - going from a starry eyed idealist to a cynic.
What is she, 18?
But I’d vote for her.
Her Wikipedia page says she’s 32
The exit poll, commissioned by Catalonia's TV3 channel, showed the "Together for Yes" group of secessionists winning 63-66 seats in the 135-member parliament. That's short of the 68 seats they needed for a majority to push forward their plan to make Catalonia independent from Spain by 2017.But the radical Popular Unity Candidacy party, or CUP, was projected to win 11 to 13 seats in the parliament, which represents the northeastern region of 7.5 million people bordering France that is responsible for nearly a fifth of Spain's economic output.
With 64 percent of the votes counted, the "Yes" bloc had 62 seats and CUP had 10. That would make a majority, but the two parties weren't going to win a majority of the popular vote because of Spain's proportional representation. Final results were expected late Sunday or early Monday.
The two parties could join forces after negotiations, but the Popular Unity Candidacy has insisted that it will only join an independence bid if secessionist parties win a majority of more than 50 percent of the popular vote.
The exit poll showed the pro-independence parties falling just short of that level, because of a quirk in Spanish election law that gives a higher proportion of legislative seats to rural areas with fewer voters. CUP leaders have also declared that they want an immediate declaration of independence rather than the 18-month secession roadmap favored by the "Yes" bloc.
Has Bill Clinton offered to assist with her campaign?
She is getting a lot of coverage because she is now the leader of the largest non-secessionist party in Catalonia. Video showing her voting in Barcelona with 5-6 year old daughter in tow....
Bernie Sanders ad?
Or just about any major US city jig. Still loading new ammo...
Separatists on Sunday won a clear majority of seats in Catalonia's parliament in an election that sets the region on a collision course with Spain's central government over independence."Catalans have voted yes to independence," acting regional government head Artur Mas told supporters, with secessionist parties securing 72 out of 135 seats in the powerful region of 7.5 million people that includes Barcelona.
The strong pro-independence showing dealt a blow to Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, three months before a national election. His center-right government, which has opposed attempts to hold a referendum on secession, has called the separatist plan "a nonsense" and vowed to block it in court.
Spain's constitution does not allow any region to break away, so the prospect remains highly hypothetical.
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