Biodun Iginla, BBC News

Biodun Iginla, BBC News
Showing posts with label Catalan separatists. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Catalan separatists. Show all posts

Thursday, December 21, 2017

Ines Arrimadas, thorn in side of Catalan separatists


by Elodie Bagnol and Biodun Iginla, France24, Barcelona


    © AFP / by Marianne BARRIAUX | Ines Arrimadas has blasted the separatists' bid to break Catalonia away from Spain as a 'coup against democracy'

    BARCELONA - 
    Ines Arrimadas, the leader in Catalonia of the pro-unity Ciudadanos party which made huge gains but fell short of winning a crucial vote on Thursday, has seen her relentless attacks against her rivals' independence drive bear fruit.
    The charismatic 36-year-old has in recent years been one of the fiercest critics of the secessionist project in media interviews and during debates in Catalonia's regional parliament.
    She has blasted the separatists' bid to break Catalonia away from Spain as a "coup against democracy" and accused the region's axed president, Carles Puigdemont, of having embarked on a "Kafkian" process and of not listening to opponents.
    "You don't like to show your face, you don't like to talk, you don't like to debate, you don't like to negotiate with anyone who is not like you," she said during a debate in the Catalan parliament just before it voted to declare independence in October.
    - Meteoric rise -
    Born in Jerez de la Frontera in the southern province of Cadiz, Arrimadas has a degree in law and business administration. The youngest of five children, she moved to Catalonia more than a decade ago to work as a lawyer in the private sector.
    Her life changed in 2010 after she attended a rally of centrist party Ciudadanos, founded just four years earlier to fight Catalan nationalism and corruption.
    She joined the party the following year and quickly rose through its ranks.
    As the leader of the opposition in the Catalan parliament since 2015, Arrimadas -- who is fluent in Catalan and speaks English and French and describes herself as shy -- has shown her knack for communication.
    She has branded her rivals' secessionist rhetoric as "monothematic" and their nationalism "exclusive".
    Her quick reflexes were on show during her final rally before the election in Nou Barris, a working class Barcelona neighbourhood.
    As she started to speak, people further away started banging pans in protest against Ciudadanos.
    "There are others who don't want us to talk but we are going to talk loudly at the ballot box," she said to cheers and shouts of "presidenta, presidenta!".
    Married to a Catalan former politician from the separatist camp, Xavier Cima, Arrimadas presents herself as representative of all Catalans -- including those like herself who migrated to the wealthy region from other parts of Spain in search of a brighter future.
    - 'Rigorous' -
    Arrimadas's Ciudadanos won more than a million votes in Thursday's poll, its best ever result.
    The party came out on top in terms of vote count, but was defeated in terms of seats by the three separatist lists.
    Still, Arrimadas celebrated the result not just for her party, but for the anti-independence camp.
    "The nationalists will never again be able to speak in the name of all Catalonia. We are all Catalonia," she said in a speech to supporters after the result was announced.
    Britain's The Guardian newspaper likens Arrimadas to French President Emmanuel Macron for successfully carving out a centrist path in a country long dominated by bipartisan politics.
    Former French prime minister Manuel Valls, who was born in Barcelona and has taken an active role in the campaign against Catalan separatism, has said he "admires" her speeches.
    But her fierce defence of Spanish unity has also won her many detractors. The former speaker of the Catalan parliament, Nuria de Gispert, once said Arrimadas should return to Cadiz.
    A popular comedy programme on the Catalan public television network, Polonia, has portrayed her as a photogenic but vacuous Barbie doll, the "perfect candidate" that spews out anti-separatist slogans.
    "I receive daily the most spectacular hate and affection, in equal parts," Arrimadas said during an interview with private television Telecinco last month.
    She has been a supporter of FC Barcelona, a symbol of Catalan culture, since she was a teenager and would cover her binders in high school with pictures of the club's former star player and coach Pep Guardiola, a fierce defender of independence.
    Andres Rodriguez Benot, who teaches international law at the Pablo de Olavide University in Seville, remembers her as a "brilliant" yet "reserved" student there.
    He said when a group of students falsely accused her of forging language certificates in order to obtain a scholarship, Arrimadas reported the incident, and the university sanctioned the guilty students.
    "She is a rigorous person who respects legality," he said. "With her, you can forget about the word corruption."

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    Sunday, November 5, 2017

    Ex-Catalan leader Puigdemont freed with conditions in Belgium

    NOVEMBER 5, 2017 / 11:34 PM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO
    BRUSSELS - A Belgian judge has granted conditional release to sacked Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and four of his ministers, and the group is scheduled to appear at court within 15 days, Belgian prosecutors said on Monday.


    Sacked Catalan President Carles Puigdemont makes a statement in this still image from video calling for the release of "the legitimate government of Catalonia", after a Spanish judge ordered nine Catalan secessionist leaders to be held in custody pending a potential trial over the region's independence push, in Brussels, Belgium, November 2, 2017. TV3 via REUTERS TV
    Puigdemont, who turned himself in to Belgian police after Spain issued a European arrest warrant for rebellion and misuse of public funds, is barred from leaving Belgium without a judge’s consent.
    “The next step in the proceedings is the appearance of the five defendants before the Chambre du Conseil within the next 15 days,” prosecutors said in a statement.
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    Friday, October 6, 2017

    Splits emerge among Catalan separatists




    by Elodie Bagnol and Biodun Iginla, France24, Barcelona

      © AFP / by Daniel BOSQUE | Catalan President Carles Puigdemont has threatened to declare independence but has put off appearing at Catalonia's parliament until Tuesday.

      BARCELONA -  Splits have emerged among Catalan separatist leaders over their plans to unilaterally declare independence following a secession referendum deemed illegal by Madrid.
      Catalonia's leader Carles Puigdemont has threatened to declare independence "within days", but the region's business minister Santi Vila proposed a "ceasefire" in the row with Spain's central government.
      In an opinion article published in Catalan daily Ara he urged the pro-secession camp to "reflect on the usefulness and consequences" of a declaration of independence.

      Puigdemont put off until Tuesday an appearance in the regional Catalan parliament at which time some leaders have called for the declaration to be made.
      The session of parliament to analyse the results of last Sunday's referendum was initially scheduled for Monday but Spain's Constitutional Court ordered that it be suspended.
      The Catalan government has also not yet officially ratified the results of the vote, a move which would open a two-day period in which the parliament can declare independence.
      Participants in the referendum opted overwhelmingly for secession, but turnout was only 43 percent as Catalans who favour remaining part of Spain mainly boycotted the ballot.
      While Vila urged caution, Puigdemont is under strong pressure from the far-left CUP party -- whose support his government needs to pass legislation -- to move quickly.
      "The inescapable, inevitable moment of exercising self-determination has arrived," said CUP lawmaker Carles Riera.
      - 'Real alarm' -
      Puigdemont's predecessor Artur Mas also weighed in, telling Britain's Financial Times that Catalan leaders should focus not on "how to proclaim independence, but instead on how to make it effective."
      Analysts said the Catalan government risks losing international sympathy and giving Madrid an excuse for a hardline response if it makes a declaration of independence based on an unconstitutional vote.
      But if it waits too long to act on the results of the plebiscite it could see the momentum behind the independence movement fizzle.
      The debate is not just limited to politicians -- supporters of the separatist cause are also divided over what strategy to follow.
      "I have an inner conflict. I do not want a unilateral declaration of independence to happen that will last five minutes," said Olga Jubany, an anthropology professor in Barcelona.
      "The strategy (of independence) was never 'we are going to impose it'. It is not the strategy I would like to follow."
      Joan Botella, dean of political science at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, said "there is a sense of real alarm, not just uneasiness" in Catalan society.
      Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who is under pressure to show a harder line towards the separatists, has urged Puigdemont not to go ahead with the independence declaration to avoid "bigger problems".
      His comment was seen as a reference to a never before used article of the Spanish constitution which allows the central government to suspend the authority of a regional government.
      "There are few hours left to avoid a head-on collision... these are critical hours," said Botella.
      - Urging no immediate decisions -
      Since the referendum Puigdemont has called for international mediation.
      Switzerland has been in contact with both sides in the dispute "but the conditions for facilitation do no exist at the moment," the country's foreign ministry said.
      Without foreign mediation, the other option is for mediation within Spain.
      Puigdemont has met with a commission set up by Barcelona's law society made up of academics and representatives of unions and the business world.
      It has recommended that both sides not take any "immediate decisions," the withdrawal of the thousands of extra police sent to Catalonia ahead of the referendum, and for a "dialogue commission" to be set up.
      "These are crucial hours, we cannot expect a mediator to suddenly emerge or that both governments accept a proposal for dialogue," said Xavier Arbos, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Barcelona.
      "Although the situation remains worrying, now I see that there is a margin of time," he added.


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