General election in Catalonia 2015
The election for the regional parliament of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia took place on September 27, 2015. With her the deputies of the XI. Legislature of, since the creation of the Autonomous Community after the end of the Franco dictatorship existing Parliament of Catalonia determined. It was a matter of early elections. The regional parliament of the 10th legislative period was elected on November 25, 2012 . The legislative period would have ended normally in autumn 2016.
After the failure of the regional government in 2014 to hold a regular referendum on the question of Catalonia's independence from Spain, the election was viewed by large parts of the public as a substitute plebiscite on this question. In the election, those forces who support a unilateral declaration of independence ( Junts pel Sí (JxSí) and CUP ) had an absolute majority in parliament (72 of 135 seats). Their joint share of the vote, however, fell short of the majority of those who voted with just under 48%.
Developments in the 10th legislative period (2012-2015)
Formation of government and declaration of sovereignty
After the 2012 election, the Catalan bourgeois CiU and the left- Catalan ERC entered into negotiations on a tolerance agreement. In this, they agreed to initiate a process which, if possible, should lead to a referendum in 2014 on whether Catalonia should become a “state within a European framework”. Artur Mas was then re-elected Prime Minister of a CiU minority government with the votes of the ERC.
On January 23, 2013, the regional parliament passed a resolution in which, among other things, a. means that "for reasons of democratic legitimacy the people of Catalonia have the character of a sovereign political and legal subject" and in which the decision to hold a referendum was reaffirmed. The resolution was adopted with 85 votes (CiU, ERC, ICV - EUiA and one MP from the CUP), 41 MPs (15 from the PSC , 17 from the PP and the 9 MPs from Ciutadans ) voted against. Two CUP MPs abstained. Two MPs from the PP were absent due to illness, and five MPs from the PSC did not take part in the vote to protest against their party's line.
Referendum on the political future of Catalonia in November 2014
On December 12, 2013, Artur Mas announced together with representatives of the CiU, ERC, ICV-EUiA and CUP parties that a referendum would be sought. The question should be: "Do you want Catalonia to become a state?" Whoever answers this question with "yes" should answer a second question, namely: "Do you want this state to be independent?"
After the attempt to carry out such a referendum in the form of a referendum failed due to the resistance of the Spanish parliament and the central government in Madrid, the Catalan parliament passed the "Law on Non-Referendial Referendums and Citizen Participation" on September 19, 2014. This was intended to create the legal figure of a “non-referendum referendum” (consulta popular no referendària) . The legal background is that referendums according to the Spanish constitution require approval by the Spanish parliament or the Spanish government, which was not to be expected.
The law first came into force on September 27, 2014 when it was published in the Official Gazette of the Catalonia Region. On the same day, based on this law, the Catalan Prime Minister scheduled the “non-referendum referendum” with the two-part voting question agreed between the parties on December 12, 2013 by decree for November 9, 2014.
With a publicity campaign by the Generalitat under the catchphrase Tu decideixes ("You decide"), participation in the intended referendum on November 9, 2014 was advertised. The Spanish government decided on September 29, 2014 to immediately submit a judicial review application to the Constitutional Court, both against the law and against the decree organizing the referendum. The Constitutional Court accepted these applications for decision on the same day. With the acceptance of the motions for a decision, the law and the decree under the Spanish Constitution were automatically suspended.
From the "non-referendum" referendum to the "alternative vote"
On October 13, 2014, the forces in favor of the referendum met. At the end of this, it became known that the formal referendum scheduled for November 9, 2014 would not be pursued by the regional government. However, Prime Minister Artur Mas announced the following day that there would still be an "alternative vote" on November 9, 2014 with voting halls, ballot papers and ballot boxes. An alternative way of holding a survey will be sought. He did not say what legal basis he wanted to rely on for this. There will also be no formal scheduling of the survey, since such an administrative act is an administrative act that can be challenged by the central government. The regional government will have the voting facilities ready and organize the voting with the help of "20,000 volunteers". This alternative type of referendum could only be a “pre-vote”. The final vote can now only take place through a new election of the regional parliament, to which the parties in favor of the independence of the region compete with a common list and a common program, ie an election with a “plebiscitary character”.
Before November 9, 2014, voting notifications were not sent to those entitled to vote, nor were electoral registers created, as the use of the data would have violated data protection law due to the lack of a legal basis for voting. The electorate could call up the voting location responsible for them via the Internet or inquire by telephone. The regional government ( Generalitat ) announced that there were a total of 6,430 voting halls in 941 municipalities. Only six municipalities did not have their own voting room.
In order to be able to vote, the voter had to present his identity card. His data (name and ID card number) were then entered in a numbered electoral roll and recorded in a computer, which should avoid multiple votes. Before voting, the voter - unlike in elections - had to sign behind his entry in the electoral roll, thereby declaring his consent to the collection of the data.
Anyone over the age of 16, regardless of their nationality, whose ID showed an address in Catalonia, was eligible to participate. Voting was also possible in 17 voting centers abroad. Since the Spanish government - although this "alternative vote" had also been suspended by the Constitutional Court - did not take any concrete steps to prevent it, it took place on November 9, 2014. The standby judge in Barcelona dismissed several urgent requests made on November 9th (among others by the UPyD ) to prevent the voting by closing the voting rooms. The vote went without major incidents.
Result
According to the regional government, 2,305,290 people took part in the vote on November 9, 2014. Because there was no electoral roll, participation can only be estimated using other statistical data. The media assume that around a third of those entitled to vote took part.
The regional government announced the result as follows: 1,861,753 votes (80.76%) with a "yes" to both questions (ie for independence), 232,182 votes (10.07%) with "yes" to the first and "No" to the second question, 22,466 votes (0.97%) with "Yes" to the first and no answer to the second question, 104,772 votes (4.54%) with "No" to the first question, 12,986 blank ballot papers (0.56%) and 71,131 “other” (3.09%). As it was a citizen participation process, it was not tied to the questions and answers on the ballot, so any expression of opinion was allowed. Such ballot papers were grouped under “other”.
Announcement of early elections
On November 25, 2014, Prime Minister Mas announced in a speech that he would seek early elections to the regional parliament with a "plebiscitary character" on the question of the region's independence from Spain. This is to be achieved by all forces supporting independence join forces to form a common electoral list with the common goal of achieving independence within 18 months after the election. On January 15, 2015, he announced that he would schedule these elections for September 27, 2015.
In March 2015, the CDC , together with the ERC and other Catalan nationalist forces, signed a declaration according to which the parliament to be elected in September 2015 should initiate a constituent process. The UDC did not sign this statement. In June 2015, its members adopted in a strike vote with a narrow majority a proposal that excludes a unilateral declaration of independence and the "initiation of a constitutional process that does not move within the legal framework". This led to a break between the CDC and UDC and the dissolution of their 35-year-old alliance (CiU). The UDC withdrew its ministers from the regional government.
After the CDC and ERC had agreed to run a joint list in July 2015, Prime Minister Mas officially signed the decree on August 3, 2015 to dissolve the regional parliament and to call new elections for September 27, 2015.
The "plebiscitary character" of choice
After holding a referendum or a popular poll on the question of independence was not possible and therefore only a semi-official "alternative vote" (e.g. without electoral roll) could take place on November 9, 2014, Prime Minister Ma announced the election to the regional parliament with a "plebiscitary character". The background to this was that the central government was able to prevent a referendum or a formal referendum by simply filing the constitutional complaint. The decision on the dissolution of the regional parliament and the scheduling of new elections, however, lies solely with the Prime Minister. In practice, due to the resistance from Madrid to a referendum, parliamentary elections were the only legal way to go to a regular ballot under the legal guarantees of the right to vote. By announcing that this election would have a “plebiscitary character”, the proponents of this idea intended to indirectly attribute the significance of a referendum on independence to it. From a purely legal point of view, however, it was an ordinary parliamentary election, a “plebiscitary character” can only actually result from the result and the resulting actions of the political actors. CDC and ERC want to initiate an independence process in accordance with their joint election program and on the basis of the result, as there was an absolute majority of the seats in the newly elected parliament for the candidacies striving for independence (72 of 135 seats = 53.33%).
Critics point out that it is definitely questionable whether this indirect plebiscite on the question of independence should be accepted. Due to the electoral system, the absolute majority achieved by Junts pel Sí and CUP in parliament is not accompanied by an absolute majority of the votes cast.
Another problem in this context is that a really “plebiscitary character” would only have resulted if this one question of independence were the only decisive criterion for each individual voter for his or her voting decision. But this can also be denied. Although this topic has been the most discussed topic, at least in the published opinion, it cannot be concluded from this that it is the only decisive one for each individual voter. There may be voters to whom other political fields (e.g. social policy) were personally more important and who therefore made their voting decision based on the statements of the parties on this topic. The candidacy of Catalunya Sí que es Pot has made no statement on the question of independence. The situation was similar for the former sister party of the CDC, Unió, which has also not clearly positioned itself.
If you put the two options pro and decidedly against independence next to each other, then the relationship between these two camps and the undecided would look like this:
- Pro independence = 47.74%
- Not clearly positioned and abstentions = 12.57%
- Against independence = 39.17%
CUP top candidate Antonio Baños stated immediately after the election that the conditions for a unilateral declaration of independence were not currently in place because the parties in favor of it did not receive a majority of the votes.
Electoral system
The regional parliament of Catalonia has 135 members. These are elected in four constituencies (the provinces): 85 in the Barcelona constituency , 17 in the Girona constituency , 15 in the Lleida constituency and 18 in the Tarragona constituency . In the D'Hondt procedure, mandates are assigned solely at the electoral district level, with only parties being considered that have achieved at least three percent of the votes in the respective constituency. The allocation of seats to the four constituencies has remained unchanged since 1980 and even then did not follow pure proportional representation. In the 2012 election, around 47,500 people were eligible to vote in the province of Barcelona, 29,500 in the province of Girona, 20,900 in the province of Lleida and 30,900 in the province of Tarragona. The fact that the seats are distributed solely at electoral district level (without compensation based on the overall election result) in connection with the unequal ratio of eligible voters per seat is one reason why a majority in parliament is not necessarily linked to a majority of votes and leads in the The reality is that rural constituencies, with more separatist election results, are overrepresented.
Candidacies and political positions
Compared to the last legislative period, the changes in the party system (dissolution of CiU, joint list CDC-ERC, joint list Podemos-ICV-EUiA) resulted in significant changes.
The candidacies represent the following positions:
The candidacy of Junts pel Sí ("Together for Yes") is a joint list of the liberal CDC and the left-wing ERC , all of which have in common that they stand for the independence of Catalonia. It was supported by other secessionist parties and associations ( Demòcrates de Catalunya , a split from the UDC founded in 2015; Moviment d'Esquerres , a split from the PSC; Assemblea Nacional Catalana and Òmnium Cultural ). The election manifesto of Junts pel Sí stipulates that if there is a majority in favor of the secession from Spain in parliament, the following steps should be taken: First, the adoption of a resolution proclaiming the beginning of the independence process. This is to be followed by the first phase of drawing up a Catalan constitution, which is to consist of citizen participation. At the end of this phase, the parliament should adopt a declaration of independence and, in connection with this, a transitional law in which a. it should be determined which provisions of Spanish law will continue to apply. This is to be followed by the parliamentary drafting of the new constitution by parliament. Then new elections are to take place. All of this should be completed by spring 2017. The final step is a referendum on the new constitution.
The anti-capitalist left party Candidatura d'Unitat Popular (CUP) , which has been represented in the regional parliament since 2012, is also in favor of a unilateral declaration of independence and the initiation of a constitutional process . Unlike Junts pel Sí , the CUP is against membership of an independent Catalonia in the European Union, which is rejected in its current form as an instrument of big business.
After the dissolution of the CiU party association, the Christian Democratic UDC ran for the first time in regional elections alone. In its program, the UDC defends the sovereignty of Catalonia and the right of the Catalan people to decide for themselves about their political future (" dret a decidir "). A possible outcome of such a process is both a confederation with Spain and an independent state. However, the applicable law must be observed in all steps, which excludes both a unilateral declaration of independence and the unilateral initiation of a constitutional process.
The all-Spanish left-wing protest party Podemos , the Catalan eco-socialist ICV and the EUiA (Catalan division of the all-Spanish left-wing party Izquierda Unida ) joined forces to vote for the joint candidacy of Catalunya Sí que es pot ("Catalonia, yes we can"). In its election manifesto , the candidacy - similar to the UDC - defends the dret a decidir without making a statement on the question of the result. The chairman of Podemos , Pablo Iglesias, rejects the independence of Catalonia. In October 2014, the ICV carried out an internal ballot on the party's stance on the issue at hand in the vote on November 9, 2014, in which the line of the board was confirmed: "Yes" to the first question (statehood of Catalonia), none Recommendation to members on the second question (independence of Catalonia).
Like the PSOE, the social democratic PSC (sister party of the Pan-Spanish PSOE ) supports the conversion of Spain into a federal state.
The Ciutadans (C's) party rejects a right of self-determination for Catalonia and a referendum and supports the current Spanish state model of the autonomous communities . However, this should be "concluded" by defining the boundaries of competencies.
The regional association of the conservative PP also rejects a referendum and advocates maintaining the status quo.
Result
There was a record turnout of 77%. The forces advocating independence from Spain ( Junts pel Sí and CUP) achieved an absolute majority in parliament, but they only received 48% of the vote.
Ciutadans and CUP each more than doubled their share of the vote. The PP recorded its worst result since 1992, losing a third of its voters compared to 2012. The PSC result is the worst in its history, but its losses compared to 2012 were limited. Catalunya Sí que es pot clearly missed its election goal of becoming the strongest left force and forming a left-wing government. The UDC, which had been a member of the regional parliament as part of the CiU party alliance since 1980, failed to enter parliament when it ran for the first time alone.
Both Catalunya Sí que es pot and UDC were able to try to achieve a compromise with the central government, but still not assert themselves on Catalonia's right to self-determination, and because of the plebiscitary nature of the election and the polarization, they got a clear Sí or No "between the fronts". The party leader of the UDC, Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida, made his office available on the evening of the election. The top candidate of Catalunya Sí que es pot , Josep Lluís Franco Rabell, underlined that his party alliance was not part of the No camp but was defending Catalonia's right to self-determination. However, secession should be subordinated to a solution to social issues not only in Catalonia, but all of Spain. In the wake of the election results, Pablo Iglesias Turrión , Podemos' top candidate for the Spanish parliamentary elections in 2015 , announced an independence referendum agreed between the Madrid central government and the Generalitat de Catalunya if Podemos wins .
Junts pel Sí was - as expected - by far the strongest force. However, if you compare it with the combined results of the CiU and ERC in the 2010 and 2012 elections, their result is below average. In the 2012 elections, the CiU (CDC and UDC) and ERC together had 71 members. In 2015 these parties could only win 62 seats (all Junts pel Sí ). When electing the Prime Minister, an absolute majority (68 votes) is required in the first ballot, and a relative majority (more yes than no votes) is sufficient in the following ballots. A Junts pel Sí candidate is therefore dependent on enough MEPs from other political groups voting for him or at least abstaining.
The official final result in detail:
| Parties | be right | Votes in% (change) 8 |
Seats (change) |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Junts pel Sí 1 | 1,628,714 | 39.59 | 2 | 62 | +2 3 |
| Ciutadans (C's) | 736.364 | 17.90 | +10.33 | 25th | +16 |
| Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya (PSC-PSOE) 4 | 523.283 | 12.72 | −1.71 | 16 | −4 |
| Catalunya Sí que es pot 5 | 367.613 | 8.94 | −0.96 5 | 11 | -2 5 |
| Partit Popular (PP) | 349.193 | 8.49 | −4.49 | 11 | −8 |
| Candidatura d'Unitat Popular (CUP) | 337.794 | 8.21 | +4.73 6 | 10 | +7 6 |
| Unió Democràtica de Catalunya (UDC) | 103.293 | 2.51 | 7th | 0 | −11 |
| Other | 46,095 | 1.12 | |||
| Abstentions | 21,895 | 0.53 8 | |||
| All in all | 100.0% | 135 | |||
Further development and government formation
Constitution of Parliament
On October 26, 2015, the newly elected parliament met for its constituent session. The former chairman of the separatist activist movement Assemblea Nacional Catalana , Carme Forcadell, was elected President of Parliament.
Resolution on the separation from Spain
In its next session on November 9, 2015, the Catalan Parliament passed a "resolution on the start of the political process in Catalonia as a result of the election results of September 27, 2015", with the votes of Junts pel Sí and CUP and against the votes of all other political groups. . This resolution said u. a. that Parliament proclaim the beginning of the process of creating an independent state and initiating a constitutional process. Particularly explosive was the passage after which the parliament declared that "as the guardian of sovereignty and as an expression of the constitutional power" in the process of the "democratic separation from the Spanish state" it would not submit to decisions by its institutions and in particular the constitutional court .
The central government in Madrid filed a constitutional complaint against the resolution of the parliament of November 9, 2015. By judgment of December 2, 2015, the Constitutional Court upheld the action and declared the parliamentary resolution of November 9, 2015 to be unconstitutional and void.
Ballots for the election of the Prime Minister
The President of Parliament proposed the Junts pel Sí candidate and incumbent Artur Mas for the office of Prime Minister. In the first two ballots on November 10 and 12, 2015, however, he was only able to collect 62 votes from his parliamentary group, with 73 no votes from the other parliamentary groups. Thus the election of a new prime minister failed. In the following weeks there were negotiations between Junts pel Sí and the CUP about the election of the Prime Minister. On January 3, 2016, the CUP finally decided not to support an election by Artur Mas. Junts pel Sí was also unwilling to propose any candidate other than Artur Mas. It therefore seemed certain that there would be new elections in March 2016.
On January 9, 2016 - one day before the deadline for electing a prime minister - Junts pel Sí and the CUP agreed on Carles Puigdemont , the previous mayor of Girona , as the new head of government. In return for the resignation of Artur Mas, the CUP agreed to ensure the stability of the new government by two of its MPs voting the same as the Junts pel Sí group on all important issues . This gives 64 votes, one more than Ciutadans , PSC, Catalunya Sí que es pot and PP combined. The CUP also undertook not to vote with the opposition on any such issue. As a result, Carles Puigdemont was elected Prime Minister on January 10, 2016 with 70 votes in favor (out of 62 deputies from Junts pel Sí and eight from the CUP), with the abstention of the other two CUP deputies and against the votes of the other parliamentary groups.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Resolució 5 / X del Parlament de Catalunya, per la qual s'aprova la Declaració de sobirania i del dret a decidir del poble de Catalunya. (PDF) (No longer available online.) Parliament of Catalonia, archived from the original on September 24, 2015 ; Retrieved January 6, 2014 (Catalan). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Decret 129/2014, de 27 de setembre, de vonvocatòria de la consulta popular no referendària sobre el futur polític de Catalunya. (PDF) (No longer available online.) Diari Oficial de la Generalitat de Catalunya, archived from the original on October 9, 2017 ; Retrieved September 29, 2014 (Catalan). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Spanish suffrage stipulates that the election will take place on the 54th day after the publication of the decree establishing it. With the elections scheduled for September 27th, the election campaign period prescribed by law begins on September 11th, the Catalan national holiday.
- ↑ Election in Catalonia should decide on secession from Spain
- ↑ Resolució 1 / XI del Parlament de Catalunya, sobre l'inici del procés polític a Catalunya com a conseqüència delsresultats electorals del 27 de setembre de 2015. (PDF) Parliament of Catalonia, accessed on November 13, 2015 (Catalan).
- ^ Judgment of the Constitutional Court of December 2, 2015. (PDF) Spanish Constitutional Court, December 2, 2015, accessed on December 2, 2015 (Spanish).
