Parliament: Historic separatist defeat in Catalonia election

The separatists suffered a historic defeat in the early parliamentary elections in Catalonia. For the first time since 1980, the various pro-independence parties in the Spanish conflict region together missed the absolute majority of seats in the parliament in Barcelona. The Socialists led by leading candidate Salvador Illa won the election. With 42 seats, they are far from an absolute majority (68). However, Illa could be elected head of government with the support of other left-wing parties – and thus prevent a new election, because there does not seem to be an alternative to a left-wing government.

According to the preliminary official results, the conservative-liberal party Junts of the separatist leader Carles Puigdemont, who lives in exile in Belgium, came second behind the Socialists with 35 seats. But the 61-year-old has no real chance of gathering enough support to form a government. The also separatist Republican Left (ERC) under the previous regional president Pere Aragonès only took third place with 20 seats (13 fewer than before). Together, the four separatist parties only got 61 seats. They lost 13.

Big triumph for Sánchez

Analysts unanimously viewed the election result as a major triumph for the left-wing central government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in Madrid, 600 kilometers away. With his reconciliation policy and his concessions, Sánchez has largely defused the conflict in Catalonia and completely taken the wind out of the sails of the separatists – who traditionally view Madrid as “enemy number one” – it was said in a discussion on the RTVE television channel late in the evening.

For Sánchez, the support of the separatist parties in the national parliament in Madrid is vital to his survival. This is probably why, among other appeasement measures, he has promised an amnesty to all “Catalanistas” who have come into conflict with the law in connection with the independence movement. The law, which has been sharply criticized by the conservative opposition, has not yet overcome all parliamentary hurdles. But it could come into force as early as June – and would also enable the return of the justice fugitive Puigdemont, who had to run the election campaign from France, to Spain.

“Amnesty and reconciliation also won today,” said journalist Juanma Lamet, whose employer, the renowned newspaper “El Mundo,” is not exactly one of the media outlets close to Sánchez. Writer Berna González Harbour, who works as a columnist for the more pro-Sánchez paper El País, noted: “We all already knew that the ‘Procés’ (the separation offensive) was over. Now the separatists know it too. ” They “crashed miserably.”

After an illegal independence referendum and a decision to secede from Spain, Catalonia was plunged into chaos in the fall of 2017 under the aegis of Puigdemont. At that time, Puigdemont was able to flee abroad with other members of the government. Several of the comrades-in-arms who remained in the country were sentenced to prison terms of up to 13 years, but were later pardoned. Catalonia is still suffering from the consequences of the chaotic separation attempt – political instability as well as corporate and capital flight.

Election winner Illa promises reconciliation and recovery

In his victory speech, Illa continued Socialist leader Sánchez’s reconciliation course and promised: “No Catalan will be excluded from this new stage that begins today.” He wants to become regional president so that Catalonia can become Spain’s leading economic region again. To the loud cheers of his supporters, Illa shouted “For the first time, the Socialist Party has won the elections in Catalonia in terms of votes and seats!”

For the election as regional president in the parliament in Catalonia, Illa needs above all and absolutely the support of the Republican Left, which has not yet made a clear statement on this. Party leader Aragonès initially said that they would go into opposition, but that would not rule out toleration of the Socialists.

Regardless of what happens in the next few weeks, there was great joy in Madrid’s Moncloa government palace. “Historic result,” Sánchez wrote on the online platform

The Socialists’ joy and hope seem justified, and not just because of the win of nine seats. Critics from the conservative camp had repeatedly accused Sánchez of strengthening separatism and endangering Spanish unity with his minority government’s appeasement policy and dependence on separatists. In fact, even after they began working with Sánchez, the separatists demanded, among other things, the green light from the central government for a legal referendum on independence. They will probably continue to do this in the future – but with a much weaker voice than before.