Spanish Socialist Party demands new elections in Catalonia

 

Spanish Socialist Party demands new elections in Catalonia

By
Paul Mitchell

21 October 2017

Spain’s Socialist Party (PSOE) has taken centre stage in the Spanish ruling elite’s invocation of Article 155 of the Spanish constitution, paving the way for the suspension of Catalan autonomy and the imposition of an unelected regime in Catalonia.

On Friday, PSOE Equality Secretary Carmen Calvo announced in an interview on national television an agreement with the Popular Party (PP) government and Citizens to dissolve the Catalan regional government (Generalitat) and hold new regional elections in Catalonia in January. This overturns the legal right of regional governments to call such elections, in place since the end of the fascist dictatorship of General Francisco Franco.

The new elections are part of a plethora of anti-democratic repressive measures being put in place under Article 155 to suspend the region’s autonomy. They include the dissolution and reorganisation of the Catalan news channel TV3 and Catalunya Ràdio, the regional Mossos d’Esquadra (Catalan police) and the Education Ministry, accused of indoctrinating schoolchildren in Catalan nationalism, and the possible banning of parties that promote independence. Economy Minister Cristóbal Montoro (PP) has already been in control of the finances of the Generalitat since September.

Should the PSOE’s elections in Catalonia go ahead as planned by Madrid, they would be held at gunpoint, under the auspices of a regional administration controlled by Spanish police and military units now preparing to move against the Generalitat under the terms of Article 155.

In the interview Calvo declared, “Yes, [PSOE] Secretary General Pedro Sánchez is clear that it is necessary to take Catalonia to an election.” She…

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