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posted by Fnord666 on Friday October 20 2017, @02:30PM   Printer-friendly
from the I-said-no dept.

After Catalonia's leader missed a deadline to clarify the government's stance on an independence referendum, and missed another deadline (Thursday calling for an unambiguous renouncement of the independence referendum, the Spanish government plans to strip Catalonia of its autonomous status:

Spain was preparing to impose direct rule over semi-autonomous Catalonia after the region's leader Carles Puigdemont declined to categorically renounce an independence referendum, the prime minister's office announced Thursday.

Spain's government said it would hold a special Cabinet meeting and "approve the measures that will be sent to the Senate to protect the general interest of all Spaniards."

At the Cabinet meeting, the government would invoke Article 155 of Spain's constitution allowing it to strip Catalonia of its self-governance. That would take effect on Saturday, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's office said in a statement.

Madrid had given Puigdemont a 10 a.m. (4 a.m. ET) deadline to clarify his government's stance on a non-binding declaration of independence passed by the regional legislature following a successful referendum on secession. But the Catalan leader insisted on keeping his options open, but that wasn't good enough for Spain's government, which had insisted on an unambiguous "no."

Bloomberg reports "Merkel and Macron Have Spain's Back as Catalan Crisis Escalates":

European Union leaders offered their support for Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy as he prepares to suspend the powers of the Catalan administration to clamp down on its push for independence. EU chiefs arriving for a summit in Brussels on Thursday said they backed Madrid and stressed that the issue of Catalonia's independence was a domestic one for Spain.

"We're looking at this very closely and support the position of the Spanish government, which is also a position that's been adopted across parties," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "Of course this preoccupies us, and we hope that there can be a resolution on the basis of the Spanish constitution." Asked whether he supported the Spanish government, French President Emmanuel Macron said "always," adding that "this summit will be marked by a message of unity of its members in regards to Spain."

Also at BBC, The Guardian, and EUObserver (opinion).

Previously: Spain Trying to Stop Catalonia Independence Referendum
Police and Voters Clash During Catalan Independence Referendum


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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by khallow on Friday October 20 2017, @03:05PM (15 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday October 20 2017, @03:05PM (#585251) Journal
    So on the basis of a nonbinding referendum with relatively weak turnout and some coy words by the local political head, Spain will demonstrate why independence of Catalonia may well be a great idea. Way to go.

    European Union leaders offered their support for Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy as he prepares to suspend the powers of the Catalan administration to clamp down on its push for independence. EU chiefs arriving for a summit in Brussels on Thursday said they backed Madrid and stressed that the issue of Catalonia's independence was a domestic one for Spain.

    And yet the EU leadership interfered with this domestic issue. Once again, the care and feeding of the EU machine takes precedence over the interests of the people it purports to represent.

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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday October 20 2017, @03:17PM (8 children)

    by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Friday October 20 2017, @03:17PM (#585254) Homepage Journal

    A nonbinding referendum wherein participation was suppressed by armed men, mind you.

    --
    My rights don't end where your fear begins.
    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by bob_super on Friday October 20 2017, @06:58PM (4 children)

      by bob_super (1357) on Friday October 20 2017, @06:58PM (#585369)

      ... thereby guaranteeing that only the most motivated supporters would show up to vote, and biasing the result from a probable "yes" to a "hell yeah"...

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 20 2017, @09:09PM (3 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 20 2017, @09:09PM (#585432)
        • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday October 20 2017, @09:45PM (2 children)

          by bob_super (1357) on Friday October 20 2017, @09:45PM (#585444)

          There are those who would like to show up, but are worried about their safety and being exposed to injury.
          Prime example is the elderly, with the Head of Household (single earner family) right behind.

          I guess you only need to threaten enough poll violence, see that only your healthy young guys showed up, and claim legitimacy for your cause regardless of the actual will of the population at large. Since Al-Maliki did it for a while, I can even spare myself a Godwin point.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 21 2017, @09:33AM (1 child)

            by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 21 2017, @09:33AM (#585609)

            By bringing up Godwin, you validate Godwin, and thus do not "spare yourself a Godwin point".

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 21 2017, @02:01PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 21 2017, @02:01PM (#585661)

              I just lost The Game.

    • (Score: 2) by takyon on Friday October 20 2017, @07:10PM (2 children)

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Friday October 20 2017, @07:10PM (#585382) Journal

      The armed men were Spanish police. [nytimes.com]

      (not sure if you knew that, just making it clear)

      --
      [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
      • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 20 2017, @09:33PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 20 2017, @09:33PM (#585442)

        Who could have imagined that after shedding themselves of Francisco Franco (Fascist dictator from 1936 until his death in 1975), that Spain would embrace Fascism again?

        ...and, BTW, who could have imagined that after fighting a World War against Fascists, that USA would become increasingly Fascist with General Electric, Boeing, and Monsanto standing in for Krupp AG and I.G. Farben (later became Bayer)?

        -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

        • (Score: 2) by dry on Sunday October 22 2017, @04:43AM

          by dry (223) on Sunday October 22 2017, @04:43AM (#585870) Journal

          America has always had fascist tendencies, ask General Butler (if he was alive). Don't forget that it was Germany that declared war on the USA first.

  • (Score: 2) by frojack on Friday October 20 2017, @08:11PM (1 child)

    by frojack (1554) on Friday October 20 2017, @08:11PM (#585401) Journal

    Interesting to see the Union of Merkel making sure they get out ahead of this and not let another Brexit thing happen. [reuters.com]

    With Merkel deciding who can join and who can not [reuters.com] the whole things looks a little shaky of late.

    The problem is the northern half of the EU is starting to revolt anyway [bloomberg.com], and a heavy hand in the south is MORE likely to push things over the edge than to calm things down.

    --
    No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
    • (Score: 2, Interesting) by khallow on Friday October 20 2017, @11:36PM

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday October 20 2017, @11:36PM (#585477) Journal
      I like this quote:

      “If we allow Catalonia -- and it is not our business -- to separate, others will do the same. I do not want that,” [European Commission President] Jean Claude Juncker said in a speech at Luxembourg University.

      “I wouldn’t like a European Union in 15 years that consists of some 98 states,” he continued. “It’s already relatively difficult with 28 and with 27 not easier, but with 98 it would simply be impossible.”

      So, it's not our business, but we're going to interfere anyway because a large number of small countries interferes with the effectiveness of our scheme.

  • (Score: 2) by romlok on Saturday October 21 2017, @12:05AM (2 children)

    by romlok (1241) on Saturday October 21 2017, @12:05AM (#585483)

    So on the basis of a nonbinding referendum with relatively weak turnout and some coy words by the local political head

    For comparison, in terms of percentages of total eligible voters:
    Catalonian independence: 39.6%
    Brexit: 37.5%

    Since the Brexiteers are apparently getting what they wanted, I wonder if any UK representative has made any statement regarding the Catalonia vote?

    • (Score: 1) by Sulla on Saturday October 21 2017, @12:42AM

      by Sulla (5173) on Saturday October 21 2017, @12:42AM (#585500) Journal

      Nige has said they should have independence, but Nige would say that.

      --
      Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 21 2017, @04:00PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 21 2017, @04:00PM (#585686)

      Some people voted 4 times at different places. Not the same.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 21 2017, @05:24AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 21 2017, @05:24AM (#585571)

    This referendum was binding. There was a non-binding vote a couple years ago, which was not suppressed, and 80% voted for independence. But this time the referendum was to be binding, which is why the central government moved to suppress it.

    43% turnout is a bit low, but would have been higher if it hadn't been suppressed. Also, with 90% in favor of independence, it's pretty much impossible to have the remaining electorate turn the lead around.

    And if you look at polls, around 80% wanted Catalonia to have the vote, even if they did not turn out.