Spanish elections and politics II: Catalan elections on February 14, 2021

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GESOP / El Periódico de Catalunya

PSOE 27.4% 115-117 seats
PP 19.9% 75-77 seats
CS 14.5% 44-47 seats
UP 13.6% 36-39 seats
VOX 13% 43-46 seats

ERC 16-17 seats
PDeCAT 2-3 seats
Others 8-10 seats

lol cs 14.5% that poll is manipulated

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The ERE case's sentence is November 19, sanchez's will be fu**ed

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https://elpais.com/elpais/2019/11/19/inenglish/1574153889_778519.amp.html

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In other news, refugee housing center “singled out” by Vox targeted with a grenade

the only thing confirmed is that it was an Arab

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In other news, refugee housing center “singled out” by Vox targeted with a grenade

PP and Vox blocked a statement in the Madrid regional assembly to condemn the "attempt" and the "hate speech", reports eldiario.es

https://www.eldiario.es/madrid/PP-Vox-Hortaleza-Asamblea-Madrid_0_970803031.html

the only thing confirmed is that it was an Arab

You must try harder if you want to be in the Steve Bannon's payroll. Thank you for the fake news, anyway

https://twitter.com/i/status/1202348462714564608

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I really want Vox to be the key to government. Feijoo is an arrogant nationalist who needs humility.

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Results from the Basque Country: (51.1% counted)

40.1% PNV, 32 seats
27.6% Blidu, 22
13.5% PSOE, 9
  7.8% Podemos, 5
  6.8% PP+C's, 5
  1.9% Vox, 1

Vox!!!!!

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The Vox results are ridiculous, even if it ends winning that cheap seat for Alava

Lol, do you really know about the political situation in Spain?

That result is pretty good and very, very symbolic.

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Galicia, 60% in:

Feijóo: 49.7% - 42
BNG: 22.8% - 19
PSdeG: 19.3% - 14
GeC: 3.5% - 0
Vox: 2% - 0

Hahahaha podemos out of Parliament!!!

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With 71% of the vote counted, it starts to become stronger the possibility that GeC will not win a single seat.

Hahahaha ❤️❤️❤️❤️🥰🥰

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Is there a reason why late counted votes tend to lean right?

ZAPATERO

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Anyways this is just a repeat of what we saw in 2017, but from the right this time. Back in 2017 UP presented a no confidence vote and it failed miserably (and even hurt the party's standing a bit)

Which in turn was a repeat of the 1987 no confidence vote from Hernández Mancha (who presented one against the González government, which had an overall majority at the time). And which again hurt AP quite a bit (Hernández Mancha in fact did not even make it to the 1989 election as leader and was replaced by Fraga briefly and later Aznar as party leader of the new unified PP)

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Disagree. A motion of no confidence may not succeed, but that doesn't imply the motion fails miserably. Felipe Gonzalez presented a motion of no confidence in against Adolfo Suarez which was unsuccessful, but it served its purpose presenting Gonzakez as an alternative. Hernandez Mancha failed miserably in 1987 because he lacked the skills to confront Felipe Gonzalez in parliament. The 2017 motion was not that kind of failure and I remember well a devastating intervention by the UP spokeswoman Irene Montero on the PP corruption. The motion was unsuccessful because it lacked enough parliamentary support, but it was a draw in what regards the dialectical battle between Pablo Iglesias and Mariano Rajoy

(Emeritus king Juan Carlos might leave La Zarzuela)

At that moment Pablo iglesias made a fool of himself, lost support, and never got it back.

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Embattled 'emeritus' king Juan Carlos to leave the country

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53642283

Juan Carlos, 82, made the announcement in a letter to his son, Felipe, to whom he handed power six years ago.

He said he would be available if prosecutors needed to interview him.

In June, Spain's Supreme Court opened an investigation into the alleged involvement of Juan Carlos in a high-speed rail contract in Saudi Arabia.

It was not immediately clear when the former monarch would leave Spain and where he would reside.

It is a humiliating exit for a king who had seemed set to go down in history as the leader who skilfully guided Spain from dictatorship to democracy after the death of General Franco in 1975, BBC Europe correspondent Nick Beake says.

According to Portuguese media, he's going to exile in Cascais in the house the royal family owns there. Don't know if it is the same as his childhood one.

Juan Carlos departed on Sunday, according to Spanish media, but his destination is unknown. His father Juan de Borbón was exiled in Portugal during the Franco regime. The exiled prince and the Caudillo arranged that Juan Carlos would get his education in Spain and the future king made his first visit to the country in 1948. Maybe he will return to Portugal, it'd be interesting...

I'd be happy if Juan Carlos pays taxes for the illegal money as a service to the country, but that is not going to happen. The chances that Juan Carlos ends his days behind the bars are virtually nonexistent. He has a legal shield and the judiciary in Spain is mostly monarchist and leans to the right.

At this point I'd say the PSOE support is key for the monarchy, as the institution could hardly resist if it's only backed by the rightwing parties. However, I suspect that PSOE voters are not very monarchist nowadays

Lol no https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vanitatis.elconfidencial.com/amp/casas-reales/2019-06-20/monarquia-encuesta-vanitatis-votantes-psoe-aprueban-rey_2077678/

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Podemos collapses and senior officials are charged in an investigation

https://www.abc.es/espana/abci-juez-imputa-estrecho-colaborador-pablo-iglesias-y-tesorero-podemos-financiacion-partido-202008111113_noticia_amp.html?__twitter_impression=true

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For those of us who can't read Spanish, a summary?

Well, that is actually an exaggeration, especially the "Podemos collapses" lol

Anyways, the summary is that the Treasurer and the Campaign Managers from Podemos have been charged with illegally financing the party

This is somewhat reminiscent of the Gürtel case from PP a while back, where the PP tresurer was also accused of illegally financing the party as well. (or if you really care to go back that far, the Filesa case where PSOE was also accused of illegal financing in the late 80s)

In any case, they've just been charged. Now it will take a long while until those charges are actually confirmed or dropped. And if confirmed it will take years until the trial finally ends. So we are here for a long while.

Or a more simpler summary is that Podemos is just another member of the "caste", alongside PP, PSOE and others.

The investigation is horrific, it is an almost unique case in Spain. Specific people are not being charged. The whole political party is being charged.

It should be noted that in the history of Spain, only the PP has been condemned as a political party.

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For those of us who can't read Spanish, a summary?

Well, that is actually an exaggeration, especially the "Podemos collapses" lol

Anyways, the summary is that the Treasurer and the Campaign Managers from Podemos have been charged with illegally financing the party

This is somewhat reminiscent of the Gürtel case from PP a while back, where the PP tresurer was also accused of illegally financing the party as well. (or if you really care to go back that far, the Filesa case where PSOE was also accused of illegal financing in the late 80s)

In any case, they've just been charged. Now it will take a long while until those charges are actually confirmed or dropped. And if confirmed it will take years until the trial finally ends. So we are here for a long while.

Wait. I think there is a difference between "imputar" ("investigate") and "acusar" ("charge"). Judicial inquiry may end in formal charges or not, it depends on the conclusions. Even in the case inquiry leads to formal accusation, I doubt the alleged wrongdoings would be comparable to the colossal corruption scheme known as the "Gürtel case", that ultimately caused the fall of Mariano Rajoy. I'll wait a little to give an opinion, because I haven't paid too much attention and there's too much media noise

It's exactly the same as the case Gürtel, the whole party is being investigated not just a few people.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.europapress.es/nacional/noticia-juez-imputa-tambien-podemos-persona-juridica-causa-financiacion-partido-20200811153314.html

"Juridical person"

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Podemos 2017 🤡🤡

https://twitter.com/PODEMOS/status/904318380878028800?s=19

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José Manuel Calvente, the lawyer who worked for Podemos and filed a complaint for alleged mususe of funds, declared before the judge on July 29 for more than three hours. The full audio was sent to the parties at trial after Vox requested it (the Abascal party is acting as private prosecutor, something that is allowed in Spain for some weird reason). Calvente ratified his accusations, alleging the party billed "false services", paid "unjustified bonus" and transferred money in nontransparent ways. However, when the judge asked him to go into details, Mr Calvente said he has no evidence and is basing his accusations on things he heard to other party employees. They told him about the alleged irregularities, such as the alleged fake billings in favour of Neurona consulting (owned or participated by Podemos co-founder JC Monedero). When the judge asked him about five campaign contracts deemed false in the complaint, Mr Calvente rectified saying "they could be false". "I'm not making a definitive statement", said Calvente to the judge, but talking about "a number of indications" told to him by others. Podemos filed a motion to dismiss the complaint, claiming it's based on "rumours and speculations".

By the moment it doesn't look like theere's a solid case against Podemos, leaving aside that Calvente saw "strange things" and some people told him about alleged wrongdoings. It's true that Podemos is the second party after the PP under investigation* as a legal person, but I don't see anything remotely comparable to the Gürtel scheme regardless what the plaintiff says. Another question is that the inquiry finds evidence of irregularities by other means.

* The current legal term in Spain is investigado ("investigated"), but the press is still using the old term imputado, which is a word not easy to translate as it has a connotation of "accused" without actually meaning a formal accusation

Other senior officials have described irregular payments as "solidarity," excusing themselves without denying anything.

You definitely don't say those things unless you're guilty.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.huffingtonpost.es/amp/entry/monedero-caja-b-podemos_es_5f34fb63c5b6fc009a61ddec/

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Lol, is that the real account of Pablo Echenique? It's not that I'm a fan of Echenique and Monedero (actually I can't stand them), but re-tweeting lame impersonators to back your arguments is not a great idea. As for the caja de solidaridad ( "solidarity fund"), my qualified opinion as a comunista de chalé ("villa Communist") is that there's no case

Of course...

https://amp.elmundo.es/madrid/2020/08/12/5f341ea8fdddff62668b456e.html?__twitter_impression=true

Monedero, who is also a contributor to the program presented this Thursday by Ana Terradillos, has explained that "as there is a limitation of salary" in Podemos, "the part that members do not receive" "goes to a solidarity box that is distributed".

https://twitter.com/MonederoJC/status/1293575486556246020?s=19 🤡🤡🤡

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For what is worth, while Monedero was one of the founders of Podemos and indeed a big figure early on, he was also one of the earliest to get "purged". Indeed he did not even last to Podemos' 2nd election as a party, and resigned all his positions on April of 2015.

That means nothing, he claims that the "solidarity fund" exists, no matter if it was in 2015.

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"solidarity fund"


https://twitter.com/Velherro/status/1293937336913399809?s=19


https://twitter.com/PabloIglesias/status/1294227931519213568?s=19

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https://twitter.com/DebatAlRojoVivo/status/1295299521250054144?s=19

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Worth noting that Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo being fired and replaced with Cuca Gamarra also reinforces the turn towards moderation and the center that PP has done since the pandemic started.

Do you really think the PP turned to "moderation" when the pandemic started? Seriously? Perhaps the harsh attacks during the worst stages, with 800 or 900 dead every day, were product of my imagination. I'll welcome any sign of "moderation" and "common sense", in any case. "United before adversity"

So it's "radical" to question the government?

It seems that "moderation" means saying nothing and agreeing with everything the government says... During the Ebola crisis there was no moderation.
https://twitter.com/PSOE/status/522287518017134592?s=20

https://twitter.com/PSOE/status/527443947078295552?s=20

https://twitter.com/PSOE/status/522285816954257408?s=20

[BigSerg]

Worth noting that Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo being fired and replaced with Cuca Gamarra also reinforces the turn towards moderation and the center that PP has done since the pandemic started.

Do you really think the PP turned to "moderation" when the pandemic started? Seriously? Perhaps the harsh attacks during the worst stages, with 800 or 900 dead every day, were product of my imagination. I'll welcome any sign of "moderation" and "common sense", in any case. "United before adversity"

So it's "radical" to question the government?

It seems that "moderation" means saying nothing and agreeing with everything the government says.

No, you are wrong. Uniting before adversity is a matter of patriotism, at least during the worst moments. You have the example of Portugal to see how a responsible opposition leader must behave in these situations. Rui Rio hs been praised in some Spanish media for good reasons:

https://www.lavanguardia.com/internacional/20200516/481163162534/rui-rio-portugal-oposocion-gobierno-gestion-crisis.html

La disrupción provocada por la pandemia resulta tan intensa que la política española ha descubierto que Portugal existe, de manera que pierde un poco de vigencia la máxima de Pi i Margall de que en España se sabe mejor quién gobierna en Rusia que quién lo hace al otro lado de la frontera lusa.

Con el primer ministro António Costa casi convertido en un héroe popular por su defensa de España frente a las críticas de Holanda y con el Partido Popular usando las mucho mejores cifras oficiales de Portugal como arma arrojadiza, el Gobierno de Pedro Sánchez encontró en el jefe de la oposición, el conservador Rui Rio, el modelo que contraponer a la actitud de Pablo Casado, con su apuesta por ser un “soldado” en la colaboración con el Ejecutivo socialista de Lisboa (...)

“Que el país sepa que el PSD apoya al Gobierno en este combate. Estamos en una emergencia nacional. Tenemos una amenaza que combatir. Lo que se exige es unidad, solidaridad y responsabilidad, en el nombre del interés nacional”.  

 

Rui Rio steted he's is not bacing the socialists, he's backing the government of Portugal in a situation of emergency.

Meanwhile in the government of Spain was dealing with an unprecedented situation with more or less success, surely trying to do its best while suffering a campaign of harassment and destabilization consisting in vicious attacks and hyperbole. There is a big difference between criticizing the possible errors of the government (for sure they existed, mixed with some successes) and the baseless accusations of criminal behaviour. A responsible opposition leader never claims the government is killing its citizens without clear evidence, because making such baseless accusations  is an execrable sin named slander. A responisble and efficient opposition leader oversees the government's management and bases criticism on verifiable data.

On the other hand, I'd be curious to know the reaction of rightwingers if the opposition in Madrid was using the same tactics against Ayuso, because there's mounting evidence suggesting her management has been disastrous on many fronts

https://twitter.com/PSOE/status/520860621437669376?s=20

https://twitter.com/PODEMOS/status/537681732418695171?s=20

https://twitter.com/PODEMOS/status/520307955540172800?s=20

https://twitter.com/PODEMOS/status/521723380899516416?s=20

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