BarÃ§a, Mas and the BNP

4May/064

FC Barcelona won La Liga last night having stayed ahead of their competitors for most of the season. The club's victory was confirmed when Valencia were defeated 2-1 by Real Mallorca. As usual, celebrations took place in the heart of the city on the Rambla de Canaletes which leads down from the PlaÃ§a de Catalunya.

However, the city is not yet in full triumphal swing. An expected win aginst Arsenal in the Champions' League final in two weeks will give BarÃ§a an historic double victory.

Artur Mas, leader of the opposition conservative Catalan CiU party is now trying to bring about the breakup of the Catalan government. It seems that Mas, who agreed a deal with the Catalan socialists to smash the new Statute of Autonomy agreed in parliament, has sniffed the sweet smell of power, and doesn't want to let it go.

The Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) have been left in an impossible position by this back room deal. Given that they are the only party in government here who have a firm ideology on the topic of greater power for Catalans to govern themselves - and that they were elected to government on that basis - ERC have found themselves stuck with a watered down Estatut to which they cannot lend their support. Instead, ERC's leader, Josep-LluÃs Carod-Rovira has called on party activists and supporters to spoil their ballot papers in a forthcoming referendum on the Statute. To vote 'No' might be construed as siding with the Spanish nationalist Popular Party (PP), something which ERC probably feels it could never do.
Artur Mas claims that ERC's opposition to the watered-down text of the Estatut is 'cowardly', 'improper' and a 'perversion of democracy', according to a 20 Minutos article translated at Barcelona Reporter. It's pretty obvious why Mas is pushing the Socialists to kick ERC out of the government. Rather than attempting to 'save' Catalan democracy, CiU are doing what they've done best for nearly thrity years of Catalan politics: subverting democracy in order to gift themselves power.

I can understand why many people disagree with ERC: the party is dedicated to an eventual separation from Spain, and this doesn't sit well with everyone. That said, I feel more inclined to trust a party who actually have an ideology and an aim than one whose sole aim is its own power. CiU are opportnists and they're good politicians. But they weren't elected to govern and I for one am getting pretty tired of their attempts to destroy the Triaprtit (three party coalition), and I'm getting pretty tired of the Catalan Socialists' willingness to go along with this anti-democratic behaviour.

Local elections are being held in England today (not that you'd know from BBC Breakfast, which perplexingly hasn't mentioned them at all). I won't be voting, partly because I vote in local elections here, and partly because when I registered to vote in the general election last year, I never received my ballot paper. If I was voting, however, you can bet that I wouldn't be voting for the BNP. This neo-Nazi group is expected to make large gains in councils in the north of England today, as many voters express their dissatisfaction with the Labour government.

Personally, I vote Green when I want to throw a vote away... at least they're well meaning, if a little wet. The BNP are - as The Sun so succinctly put it - Bloody Nasty People. That they could increase their political power, even as a reaction against Labour, is a very worrying thought. It is this sort of creeping, latent fascism which worries me most in Western European democracy. While they're a long way from holding a seat in Parliament, is it really too much to imagine a future where the BNP have become a powerful minor party?

Filed under: Catalonia, Politics, Spain, UK Leave a comment

Comments (4) Trackbacks (0) ( subscribe to comments on this post )

Chris
May 4th, 2006 - 17:47

Tom, thanks for reminding me to vote. I've been working on an essay and nearly forgot. It'll be fun – it's an amazing 25 degrees here today. The BNP is no threat around here thankfully, but they are just up the road. Can you believe Nasty Nick Griffin walked recently despite being caught inciting racial hatred by a television crew? It is hard to know who to vote for in "Blairs Worst Week Ever, Ever". Greens might be a good idea. I don't know whether you're aware of the new Conservative campaign; "Vote Blue, go Green" what a load of tosh. Cameron wears a turqoise tie at PMQs now, how very subtle.

Rate this comment: 0 0
( REPLY )
Tom
May 4th, 2006 - 23:20

"Mr Cameron has been much-photographed cycling to Parliament on his mountain bike and plans to install a wind turbine in his home."

- it would be silly to try and make a joke about the wind turbine working because of all the hot air he produces.

Or would that be geo-thermal?

Rate this comment: 0 0
( REPLY )
guirilandia
May 5th, 2006 - 13:40

At the risk of being accused of rightwing mentalism â€¦

I will say that the ERC – who represents a portion, that is a minority in Catalonia, and obviously a much smaller portion in the rest of Spain, which whether they like it or not they are part of, and this includes the PP, their arch enemies â€“ are espousing an ideology that should it be empowered (it will never be a majority opinion, even in Catalonia) would negate the established society, that is, Spain. No one except the most vainglorious and idealistic ERC militant could possibly want or even conceive of this – save a violent insurrection by one party that would indeed result in â€œbalkanizationâ€ and whip up mass hysteria.

I can admire resolute, strong, even unbending principles in an artist, like say Cassavetes, punk bands like Fugazi, or even egotistical maniacs like Dali. Olâ€™ blue eyes with his â€œMy Wayâ€ even â€¦ It works for them and furthers their art. But these guys are a party whose aim is fantastical and impossibly regressive. Independent Catalonia. Oh wait, how should we define Catalonia? Do Valencianos want to be part of the master plan? Do the French in Perpinyon want to be part of it? Do they really think regressing back to a pre-Carlos V era is viable? A silly pipe dream? Thatâ€™s what I see. Call me skeptical. Posturing, vanity, irresponsibility. And headaches for the rest. I personally get a headache every time I talk to a nationalist.

We are talking politics in a democratic society. Some may say they have clear aims and donâ€™t hedge on them. Some others may say that is immature. And I agree when we are talking politics. And, to tell you the truth, intransigence has never been a sign of maturity in all my observations. Now, I havenâ€™t gone out for a census on this. Excuse me, do you think intransigence is a sign of maturity? Iâ€™m not sure. What is intransigence? Itâ€™s when you are playing a game, letâ€™s say, and you donâ€™t like the rules so you up and leave with your ball so no one else can play. I knew kids like that. At least the socialists and the CIU are working within the legal framework. Now that the ERC sees it has to as well and doesnâ€™t like it, it feels it has to make a statement. Spoil the ballot so it doesnâ€™t appear they are agreeing with the PP. They are all about posturing and cheap symbolism. Same crap as some of those PP guys. They canâ€™t face the fact that this is part of the process. Itâ€™s not just bada-bing propose a statute – even if by a majority in the Catalan parliament – and expect everybody in Spain to agree with it. Maybe itâ€™s too watered down for them? Democracy isnâ€™t the most exciting process. I can see how itâ€™s too slow for demagogues. The irony is how they act like progressives, yet are probably one of the biggest impediments to progress itself.

My mental moment for today

Rate this comment: 0 0
( REPLY )
Tom
May 5th, 2006 - 15:29

Thanks for your comment, Andrew. You're not a right-wing mentalist: you're commenting on the post rather than some assumed insult against one of your mates… that's one of the emblems of the mentalists.

I agree that intransigence is no sign of maturity. In fact, my statement admiring Esquerra for sticking to their guns was a trite and foolish thing to say. It reads like Walter in The Big Lebowski: "Nihilists? Fuck me! Say what you like about the tenets of National Socialism, but at least it's an ethos!".

That said, I do believe that Catalonia should, and will, gain further independence from Spain. I think this could be done in a brutish, regressive way… or in a progressive and consensus-based way. Naturally, I'd go for the latter… and I do believe that the left-wing of ERC share that aim.

There's no doubt that ERC contain within their ranks and leadership a large number of conservatives and a small number of what can only be called fascists. But this can be said of most parties. I admire ERC for their grass-roots activism, positive attitude and cheerful grafiti. I have no illusions about the desires about a sizable proportion of their membership, and that's why I'm not a member. That said, i'd probably be more inclined to join ERC than I would CiU or the PSOE. If the PSC ever split from PSOE, it would become a more attractive choice. But ERC aren't demagogues. They may be a single issue party, conservatives, stick-in-the-muds, childish, impetuous, intransigent dinosaurs, but they ain't the demagogues here. CiU, for all their lack of conviction, their manipulative claims, thier power play and clever politics, if ever there were demagogues here, it's them.

Rate this comment: 0 0
( REPLY )