26.05.2014 - 19:12
A victory for ERC and for sovereignty, the defeat of unionism, and concretely the PSC, the new seat that Compromís will occupy in the European Parliament and the reconfiguration of the political panorama in the Valencian country as well as in the Balearic Islands, in European elections that have punished the two-party system in the Spanish State. VilaWeb’s director analyzes the results in this video, and in the editorial which follows.
Historic vote times two. Historic victory for sovereignty. And historic victory for the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC). It’s true that the high abstention calls for prudence, but this is a very, very important result. It’s not just ERC’s impressive leap and the way CiU is holding on and increasing its representation. It is, above all, the resounding defeat of the unionists. The defeat of PSC (Socialists) should result in the resignation of Pere Navarro because it is obvious that not even his own followers understand his electoral message. The PP was ready for a terrible result but look at Ciutadans. Ciutadans was PSC’s scapegoat, to whom they thought they would lose many votes. But the results tell another story. It’s important to point out that the success of Barcelona-based Ciutadans is mostly due to votes that come from outside Catalonia. Now the big party on the left is ERC and the big party on the right is CiU. Both are in favor of independence. This is a huge advantage six months before the referendum, especially when you add the votes of all the groups that are in favor of having a referendum, which add up to more than 60 percent of the total. We have many reasons to be optimistic.
In the Balearics, the big surprise is not the fall of PP, but the rise of Podem and ERC. Yes, of ERC, a party that, together with Compromís, went after the historic pro-sovereignty vote. That is a huge difference. Podem comes out of nothing and becomes the third most voted party and ERC and Esquerra Unida consolidate notable results that point to a change in the government next year. The PP still wins but falls 16 points and is clearly overwhelmed by the left.
PP’s fall is even more drastic in Valencia. Take a good look at the results that PP had there. It loses a staggering twenty-three points. It is the biggest decrease in the whole of the Spanish State. And the parties on the left are clearly now a majority, just a year before the Valencian elections. Compromís, in addition, had extraordinary results in comparison with five years ago and achieves its goal—also historic—of sending a representative to the European Parliament. Its leaders said that Valencian nationalism would be capable of leading a successful European candidacy. And they succeeded. That’s important to point out, along with the fact that in contrast with what’s happening in Ciutadans in Catalonia, Valencia brings in half of the votes for Primavera Europea. Finally, Podem was the big surprise all over, and adds even more plurality to the left. A plurality that will have to know how to negotiate well in order to remove PP from power next year.
