How Spain voted.....and ·not· voted.

national | miscellaneous | news report

Monday May 26, 2003 11:50

by O' as if

barcelona Catalonia EU

yesterday Municipal elections invited registered voters of the Spanish state to chose from the lists

for city and town councils. Some of these municipal entities wield considerable power over the lives of their inhabitants. The results were calculated on the basis of votes passed by those who exercised their right to be registered and to vote for the people they were allowed vote for.

Spanish democracy is a funny thing.

The PP (Partido Popular which is the party of Aznar with roots in the Franco dicatorship civil service a thus may be considered the reconstructed fascist party) has won lots of councilor seats.
Madrid and many other cities shall continue to be PP.

The PSOE (akin to the new labour party of the UK) have not won lots of seats.
Their losses to the left were most notable in Barcelona and the Autonomy of Catalúnya.
in Barcelona city the PSC (catalan branch of the PSOE) lost five of it's twenty seats. The Republican nationalist Catalan ERC "leftrepublicancatalan" won five up three, the ICV "initiative green&marxist left" won five up two.
Barcelona will thus be pacted council from now between green, red, catalanist, and Spanish Blairite neo-liberal capitalist.

Other interesting results included those of Galizia and Euskadi.
the PP shall continue to rule the councils of Galizia.
in the Basque countries the EH formation was disallowed from presenting itself for election and all its councilers have thus been lost, this varied from two to seven members of each Basque city. The PP increased their representation by one councilor here and there.

Over all the votes passed caused smiles for the PP on TV last night. In Catalunya the ERC smiled most widely, but the ICV are quite smiley too. First off impressions are that the Spanish people that vote do not all vote for the PP, but many of them ·do·.
And in Catalonia the rise in support for the ERC and ICV who themselves have pacted before and occasionally can be seen to work on many important levels ·together· with ·Left· and ·Alternative· groupings can maybe seen as a good thing.
Participation varied between 58% and 74% across the peninsula. There is thus a large section of the registered electorate who are _·not·_ voting.

It is worthy of comment that none of those awaiting residency or work papers in Spain mostly found in the cities of Madrid and Barcelona are afforded the right to register to vote, thus to vote or ·not· to vote.

Application of simple mathematics shows that once again we are to be ruled in Barcelona, by a rightwing groupings considered acceptable to approximately 4 in 7 of those who voted yesterday. People who quite obviously hold a markedly different political vision for the future from those who voted in Catalonia yesterday. Catalan nationalists today speak of the importance of their greatest victory in 25 years the 25 years of the social-democratic party system in Spain. Basque nationalists today speak of the performance of both the PNV and PP in the Basque regions after 25 years of the social-democratic party system that has just allowed for over 20 political represantatives to be illegalised.

Others in Barcelona will be intrigued to see several councilers elected on an "@bstenció" platform which included immediate Independence.

I did ·not vote·

maybe someone who did might write an explanation,..

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Comments (13 of 13)

link to Galiza.

by -

Mon May 26, 2003 14:29

bemoaning that the PP only lost 15,000 votes of the votes cast by voters (people registered to vote who went to vote).

The Death Of Spanish Democracy ?

by Cllr Eoin O'Broin - Sinn Fein

Mon May 26, 2003 15:42

eoinobroin at hotmail dot com

This years local elections signals the death of Spanish democracy, only 25 years after the fall of Franco.

Aznar's ruling Popular Party and his allies in the Supreme Court have spent the last 12 months closing down newspapers and magazines, arresting and torturing journalists, banning political parties, banning individuals from standing in elections, raiding printers who dare to print electoral material for banned parties, and arresting activists for distributing the banned material.

Aznar's aim is not to defeat ETA, but to destroy Basque nationalism. He is attempting to obliterate any expression of the Basque desire for separate nationhood. To this end he is breaking almost every conceivable civil rights standard.

The right to freedom of expression: Gone. The right to freedom of assembly: Gone. The right to join a political party: Gone. The right to vote: Gone. The right to self-definition: Gone. The right to live free from unnessary arrest: Gone. The right to live free from torture: Gone.

In place of these basic and fundamental civil rights, Aznar has imposed a regime of anti-democracy, the results of which will not be the destruction of Basque nationalism but the deepening of the causes of conflict in the Basque Country which in turn will lead to more violence.

All of this is happening with little or no interest from the mainstream media. The banning has been effectively ignored has have the other violetions of civil rights.

Despite all of this, almost 200,000 voters managed to state their preference for AuB, the banned political party, and another 50,000 voted for pro independence parties, and with the combined vote of the conservative nationalists, the PNV, Basque nationalism continues to enjoy a clear electoral majority throughout the Basque Country.

The message for Aznar from these elections is that, no matter what he does, Basque nationalism remains strong and defiant. Aznar, like other repressive right wing regimes before him, will fail. It is only a matter of time.....

nullified votes.

by .

Mon May 26, 2003 16:18

"blank votes" for Paisos Catalans:
BCN:
vots en blanc: 12.675 (1,67%)
nuls: 2.738 (0.36)

A Catalunya
blanc: 55.642 (1,71%)
nuls 18.781 (0.58)

Al País Valencià
blanc: 38.502 (1,56)
nul: 18.673 (0.76)

Illes (Balearics)
blanc: 6.910 (1,59)
nul: 3.167 (0.73)

in addition catalan or regionalist candidates were elected in Aragon.

link to Basque Countries. election results 2003

Mon May 26, 2003 16:19

further details of annuled Basque votes.

Mon May 26, 2003 16:25

these are where Basques registered to vote, went to vote, not to ·not vote·, filled out their card and voted for the ·unvotable· people.
++++Nafarroa
Araitz 207 69,93%
Arantza 232 48,23%
Basaburua 233 54,44%
Erro 161 37,53%
Irurtzun 402 38,25%
Lakuntza 300 45,18%
Olazti/Olazagutía 397 43,82%

++++Gipuzkoa
Aizarnazabal 232 69,67%
Altzo 139 65,88%
Anoeta 417 39,75%
Antzuola 438 33,93%
Asteasu 309 40,03%
Astigarraga 718 34,32%
Ataun 528 46,15%
Beizama 45 37,19%
Berastegi 269 43,46%
Bidegoyan 132 45,52%
Elduain 104 65,00%
Ezkio-Itsaso 156 42,62%
Hernani 3.657 36,92%
Hernialde 90 52,33%
Ibarra 855 34,94%
Ikaztegieta 97 37,31%
Irura 353 59,23%
Itsasondo 159 48,18%
Leaburu 173 66,54%
Lezo 1.083 35,74%
Lizartza 253 62,47%
Mutriku 1.002 33,24%
Oiartzun 2.258 41,20%
Orendain 66 60,00%
Segura 339 39,46%
Usurbil 1.211 38,01%
Zaldibia 434 43,75%

+++Bizkaia
Ajangiz 140 42,94%
Arratzu 117 42,86%
Dima 385 47,07%
Larrabetzu 405 35,10%
Mañaria 119 36,73%
Mendexa 94 37,30%
Ondarroa 2.422 41,53%
Ubide 43 35,83%

Total for autonomy of Basque Countries (as defined by Spanish constitution): 127.172 10,12% (at 99'62 % counted)
Total for Navarra: 17.991 5,71% (at 96'95 % counted)
140,-150,000 votes were illegalised. representing the 4th largest sector or the votes passed.

better Updates.................................................................7750.744v359.778

by iosaf

Mon May 26, 2003 20:47

Fet diferencial
by kitcat 5:48pm Mon May 26 '03 (Modified on 8:37pm Mon May 26 '03)

1 in 4 spaniards voted in favour of imperialist wars. in Catalonia 1 in 15.

pro-war votes in Cat (PP) 359,778
votes pro warState (PP) 359,778
votes pro warState (PP) 7.750.744
votes pro warState (PP) without Catalonia (pp)
7.390.966

1 de cada 4 espanyols han votat a favor de les guerres imperialistes. A Catalunya 1 de cada 15.

percentage sobre el total de vots emessos a Catalunya = 11,10%
porcentaje sobre el total de votos emitidos en Estado = 33,85%

percentage sobre el total de vots possibles a Catalunya = 6,80%
porcentaje sobre el total de votos posibles en Estado = 22,81%
porcentaje sobre el total de votos posibles en Estado = 25,76%

Conclusión :
Catalunya : GUERRA 7 - NO GUERRA 93
Estado Esp : GUERRA 23 - NO GUERRA 78
Estado sin Cat : GUERRA 26 - NO GUERRA 74

Què fem en aquesta guerra?
Que hacemos en esta guerra?

=
What do we do in this war?
¿What are we doing in this war?

PP have lost Madrid.

Mon May 26, 2003 20:57

madrid will now be ruled by pact
PSOE (new labour equivalent Zapatero's party)
and IU the traditional marxist party, the son of the former secretary general was murdered by the US/K forces during the war on Iraq. He was a journalist.
http://barcelona.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=43658&group=webcast

for interesting anecdotes if you read español go to the madrid indymedia site, includes one about a man who had voted electronically asking could he change his vote.
http://acp.sindominio.net/article.pl?sid=03/05/25/1410248&mode=thread&threshold=0

in BCN a "communist without party" reports on the newswire the winning of seats by radical greens and leftwingers _·not·_ members of either ERC or ICV
read the "allegría" @
http://barcelona.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=43639&group=webcast

***(for ERC read sinnfein on marxist uppers with less of the oldtimers imprisoned ...not much less, and for ICV read marxist whose older members spent less time than sinnfein oldtimers in prison but perhaps more time that ERC oldtimers related to the IV party whose ex secretary general (who yes spent time in prison) son got killed by the US/K in the Iraq war. and the greens, not many of the greens got put in prison as oldtimers though there is still time.)

good CATALAN round up

Mon May 26, 2003 21:02

CiU got 3,596 represantatives in Catalonia.
*** for CiU read FF/FG a "convergence and union" nationalist party?!¿
PSC got 1,947
the Catalan branch of the new Labour PSOE party.

ERC got 1.228
ICV got 393
and the PP
***the properly termed reconstructed Fascist Party which thus is directly descended from those beurocrats of the Dictatorship who imprisoned the older members of the Left in Spain.
the PP
got 340 representatives.

Do remember though that it get over 20,000 representatives in the rest of "España".

good Basque article @

Mon May 26, 2003 21:06

168.431
votes attributed to the candidates of the left and seperatists (225 ilegalised and 16 authorised) have counted 168,431 "suffrages" in teh municipal elections held in Navarre, Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa [The Basque lands]
link to BCN IMC article
and to an Euskera site:
www.gara.net/azkenak/orriak/art64040.php

Articles in english on election in the Basque country

by ???

Tue May 27, 2003 09:08

http://www.gara.net/dokumentoak/artxiboak/editorial_gara.rtf

http://www.gara.net/english/campaign/index.htm

continuing thought reaction.

Thu May 29, 2003 11:24

from BCN some cartoons from the mainstream press reflecting on the continuing PP control of Galicia.
well, Franco was born in Galicia, Fraga the 80+ yr old pres. of the region, was his trusted sidekick and minister for the transition, in Galicia even the nationalists are fascist (!) and 15,000 less votes, is ·15,000· less votes.

Many of the Nunca Mais family would have had difficulty ·voting·, and it remains true that the majority of volunteers who cleaned the beaches were neither in the employ the Galician authorities or in the Spanish military.
THey were volunteers.
co-operative autonomous people who cared.

A fishing dependent family now claims 30€ a day from Madrid's Galician rescue plan, it would have harmed Spain's international tourist image if Galicia had been declared a "disaster area".
go look at the cartoon:

and remember 15,000 _less voted_ for PP.
I think that is an achievement of sorts.
about one person less for every 4.25 tonnes of Fuel which sank last November.
(one person weighs about 65kg on average).

since I left those figures,

Fri Sep 05, 2003 23:00

a few more micro-left groupings have chosen to seek election on @stention issues in the next elections, and also to stand to the left of ERC on the republican issues.
The left of greens who are already "left greens" too have offered new people.
The Left is fragmenting as the Right likes to say.

but remember how many people did ·not· vote.

Basque update. (including how the Parachute regiment "occupied the Basque" yesterday.

by ipsiphi & iosaf

Thu Nov 06, 2003 12:10

The Lehendakari (taoiseach) presented his plans for free and external association of the Basque countries with the Spanish State on September 26th. Since then the plan has been rejected by many of the key players: ETA reject any solution which does not include the seven traditional provinces of the Basque (in present day Pais Basc, Navarre and France).
The PP (ruling party in Spain) have also dismissed the proposals as being "seperatist".

Yesterday divisions of the Spanish Parachute regiment began an occupation exercise in the Basque region, it is the first time since 1999 that The Spanish Armed forces have been deployed within the Spanish state to perform this type of military exercise and at such scale. The reaction has been predictable: varying from stunned outrage at what is seen as provocation to fear at what is seen as a warning. In 1999 the Spanish marines made a armed landing on a Catalan beach seizing the famous former home of the painter Salvador Dalí.

The Basques have yet to offer any clear solution for their problems which holds any hope of achieving "concensus".

With out any doubt the upcoming elections in neighbouring Catalonia for the Presidency of the Generalitat will have some bearing on the future "political climate" in Spain, as indeed the news that the heir apparant to the Spanish crown is to marry next summer a TV journalist.

For those Irish readers who were hoping to have read by now a report on the Basque situation with a critique of the Lenhendakari's proposals, I can only ask for a little more patience...

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How Spain voted.....and ·not· voted.

Comments (13 of 13)