Again, elections are coming, and again it seems like a nice moment to make a post.
Last elections were to decide government in cities around Spain. In Barcelona and Madrid these went very, very well, and the next mayors of both cities were people from the left, with good ideas and that have been implementing good and reasonable policies since then.
I was not able to vote last time. Living abroad means that you're never fully sure of what you need to do and when do you need to do it. When we arrived to Rio, I registered myself with the Spanish consulate (which is conveniently located 10 minutes away from our house on foot), but I was unsure if I needed to do some paperwork. Since for Barcelona's elections I did not receive anything, I believed I had failed to register to vote.
For this elections I wanted to make sure, and I was told I could inscribe myself during august. However, then I heard inscriptions closed at the end of July. Feeling again left out by the idiotic Spanish system for voters abroad (made on purpose so we don't vote), one day checking the mail I found out I had received the paper to ask for the voter for these elections. So I did my paperwork correctly this time, and now I'm waiting for another letter that I will use to vote. I may not receive it, since the system is in place to increase mistakes and late deliveries, but at least I have a chance.
During Barcelona's elections, I was sure about what to vote. Barcelona en Comu(a coalition that includes Podemos, IcV and other leftist parties), I believed, offered the best chance to finally move things around and produce some important changes to improve politics and make Barcelona a better city. I could not vote, but I'm really proud of the fact that they won enough votes to rule the city...through pacts and negotiations, but that is not something bad, that should be the norm everywhere. If I could vote for them in Barcelona again, I would do so without doubts.
For the current elections I had some doubts for a very long time. Plenty of times I keep getting doubts about independence, since I do believe Spain is currently a political cesspit but I also believe that maybe we should fight to convert it to something else. And I know I would never vote CIU, since they are corrupt to the bone. They may believe in independence, but more likely than not they want to make their own country just to make some new laws for their rich friends. ERC showed too much willingness to pact with CIU for a leftist party, and that worried me. PP and Ciutadans will always be out of the question, those are parties for people who would enjoy to go back to the 1950s with Franco. PSC is lost completely because depends too much from central PSOE, and they are dissolving between the new parties around them, without clear ideas. This basically leaved me with the options of ERC, CUP, IcV and Podemos.
However, several things have happened that have made it really easy for me to decide. First thing is that CIU, which is made of CDC and Unio, separated. Unio is the part more to the right in CIU, so the fact that they are separated now is really good, because it reduces strength in the Catalan right parties. These parties have been ruling for way too long, they have too many "friends" in charge of big companies and there's plenty of cases of corruption and of laws that reduce rights. CIU is the main responsible for budget cuts in education and healthcare. Sure, Spain is not giving funds to Catalunya, but before you cut these two things there's plenty of other points that could be reduced, like government salaries, help to private healthcare and education (The public ones are the ones being cut brutally while help to private companies is mantained), and plenty of other things. Unio alone will never get my vote either, they are slightly less dictatorial and disgusting than PP and Ciutadans, but just slightly.
Then, CDC convinced ERC and other organizations to join forces in a single party for independence. This allowed CDC to cover their corruption cases and all their problems under the mantle of independence. Even if I support independence, I will never vote for them because they are forgiving CDC some things that are just unforgivable, and need to be remembered. However, I will not make the mistake that Podemos and IcV did: They joined forces as well (which is fine), but then started attacking the new independence party focusing on the fact that CDC is there. This is way too simplistic, and follows central Spain's idea that independence is something CDC has invented and people have been tricked into believing. This theory ignores centuries of repression and hard work from the Spanish government to eliminate Catalunya's institutions and culture while sucking it dry of money without investing back. This is not something you can just ignore, and simplifying the message is idiotic. Also, while the principles behind Podemos are quite good and I would still vote them in Spanish general elections, their leaders have done some stupid mistakes lately. Sometimes people fail to understand that one person being stupid does not imply that the whole party needs to be dismissed as stupid, and as I said I would vote them also in Barcelona. But in Catalunya's case they don't understand the region, which has positioned me in favour of independence (unilaterally declared).
Therefore, I'm left with CUP. CUP is a party from the left, in favour of more democracy and social policies. They fight corruption. They believe in referendums and consulting people about important issues. They also want Catalunya's independence. And they have understood quite well, by not joining ERC and CDC, that even if independence is the main point of their program, it is not good to achieve it t any cost. They will support it, but they will not be constrained by joining forces with CDC. And if they feel they need to vote against CDC and ERC because these two parties are doing wrong things, I believe they will do so.
And the point is, after the latest issues, if CDC and ERC's coalition, together with CUP, get enough votes to add up to a majority of parliament members in Catalunya, they will declare independence. Just like that.
And then hell will break loose.
And it is about time for that.
I was not able to vote last time. Living abroad means that you're never fully sure of what you need to do and when do you need to do it. When we arrived to Rio, I registered myself with the Spanish consulate (which is conveniently located 10 minutes away from our house on foot), but I was unsure if I needed to do some paperwork. Since for Barcelona's elections I did not receive anything, I believed I had failed to register to vote.
For this elections I wanted to make sure, and I was told I could inscribe myself during august. However, then I heard inscriptions closed at the end of July. Feeling again left out by the idiotic Spanish system for voters abroad (made on purpose so we don't vote), one day checking the mail I found out I had received the paper to ask for the voter for these elections. So I did my paperwork correctly this time, and now I'm waiting for another letter that I will use to vote. I may not receive it, since the system is in place to increase mistakes and late deliveries, but at least I have a chance.
During Barcelona's elections, I was sure about what to vote. Barcelona en Comu(a coalition that includes Podemos, IcV and other leftist parties), I believed, offered the best chance to finally move things around and produce some important changes to improve politics and make Barcelona a better city. I could not vote, but I'm really proud of the fact that they won enough votes to rule the city...through pacts and negotiations, but that is not something bad, that should be the norm everywhere. If I could vote for them in Barcelona again, I would do so without doubts.
For the current elections I had some doubts for a very long time. Plenty of times I keep getting doubts about independence, since I do believe Spain is currently a political cesspit but I also believe that maybe we should fight to convert it to something else. And I know I would never vote CIU, since they are corrupt to the bone. They may believe in independence, but more likely than not they want to make their own country just to make some new laws for their rich friends. ERC showed too much willingness to pact with CIU for a leftist party, and that worried me. PP and Ciutadans will always be out of the question, those are parties for people who would enjoy to go back to the 1950s with Franco. PSC is lost completely because depends too much from central PSOE, and they are dissolving between the new parties around them, without clear ideas. This basically leaved me with the options of ERC, CUP, IcV and Podemos.
However, several things have happened that have made it really easy for me to decide. First thing is that CIU, which is made of CDC and Unio, separated. Unio is the part more to the right in CIU, so the fact that they are separated now is really good, because it reduces strength in the Catalan right parties. These parties have been ruling for way too long, they have too many "friends" in charge of big companies and there's plenty of cases of corruption and of laws that reduce rights. CIU is the main responsible for budget cuts in education and healthcare. Sure, Spain is not giving funds to Catalunya, but before you cut these two things there's plenty of other points that could be reduced, like government salaries, help to private healthcare and education (The public ones are the ones being cut brutally while help to private companies is mantained), and plenty of other things. Unio alone will never get my vote either, they are slightly less dictatorial and disgusting than PP and Ciutadans, but just slightly.
Then, CDC convinced ERC and other organizations to join forces in a single party for independence. This allowed CDC to cover their corruption cases and all their problems under the mantle of independence. Even if I support independence, I will never vote for them because they are forgiving CDC some things that are just unforgivable, and need to be remembered. However, I will not make the mistake that Podemos and IcV did: They joined forces as well (which is fine), but then started attacking the new independence party focusing on the fact that CDC is there. This is way too simplistic, and follows central Spain's idea that independence is something CDC has invented and people have been tricked into believing. This theory ignores centuries of repression and hard work from the Spanish government to eliminate Catalunya's institutions and culture while sucking it dry of money without investing back. This is not something you can just ignore, and simplifying the message is idiotic. Also, while the principles behind Podemos are quite good and I would still vote them in Spanish general elections, their leaders have done some stupid mistakes lately. Sometimes people fail to understand that one person being stupid does not imply that the whole party needs to be dismissed as stupid, and as I said I would vote them also in Barcelona. But in Catalunya's case they don't understand the region, which has positioned me in favour of independence (unilaterally declared).
Therefore, I'm left with CUP. CUP is a party from the left, in favour of more democracy and social policies. They fight corruption. They believe in referendums and consulting people about important issues. They also want Catalunya's independence. And they have understood quite well, by not joining ERC and CDC, that even if independence is the main point of their program, it is not good to achieve it t any cost. They will support it, but they will not be constrained by joining forces with CDC. And if they feel they need to vote against CDC and ERC because these two parties are doing wrong things, I believe they will do so.
And the point is, after the latest issues, if CDC and ERC's coalition, together with CUP, get enough votes to add up to a majority of parliament members in Catalunya, they will declare independence. Just like that.
And then hell will break loose.
And it is about time for that.
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