Podemos vs Vox in Spain

 

Podemos or "We can" in English, is a political party in Spain founded in January 2014 by political scientist Pablo Iglesias Turrión in the aftermath of the 15-M Movement protests against inequality and corruption. Podemos is a left-wing populist party which favours anti-austerity, anti-corruption and anti-establishment views. Podemos has called for a renegotiation of austerity measures and seeks to curtail the Treaty of Lisbon.

In 2014 Podemos was the second largest political party in Spain by number of members after the People's  Party (PP). On 9 May 2016, Podemos formed the Unidos Podemos (UP) electoral alliance with United Left, Equo and minor left-wing parties. In 2018, the party joined Maintenant le Peuple. After the November 2019 Spanish general election, in which the party and its allies won 12,8% of the vote and 35 seats in the Congress of Deputies, Podemos entered a coalition government with the PSOE, the first multi-party cabinet in the current Spanish democratic era.

Vox in Latin for "voice", often stylized as VOX, is a Spanish far-right political party. Founded in 2013, the party is led by party president Santiago Abascal and secretary general Javier Ortega Smith. the party entered the Spanish parliament for the first time in the April 2019 general election, having become the country's third political force after the November 2019 Spanish general election that same year, in which it secured 3.6 million votes and 52 seats in the Congress of Deputies.

Vox has been described as a far-right party within the subset of the radical-right family parties, its discourse relies relatively less in populism and more on nationalism. Its economic agenda has been described as "neoliberal". Their view of European Union is that of a Euroscepticism. Inaddition, they seek the return of Gibraltar to full Spanish sovereighnty.

Politics of the United States

The United States is a federal republic in which the president, Congress, and federal courts share powers reserved to the national government according to its Constitution. The federal government shares sovereignty with the state governments. The executive branch is headed by the President and is formally independent of both the legislature and the judiciary.

The cabinet serves as a set of advisers to the President. They include the Vice President and heads of the executive departments. Legislative power is vested in the two chambers of Congress, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The judicial branch (or judiciary), composed of the Supreme Court and lower federal courts, exercises judicial power.

The judiciary's function is to interpret the United States Constitution and federal laws and regulations. This includes resolving disputes between the executive and legislative branches. The federal government's structure is codified in the Constitution. Two political parties, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, have dominated American politics since the American Civil War, although smaller parties exist such as the Libertarian Party, the Green Party, and the Constitution Party. 

Generally, the Democratic Party is commonly known as the left-wing party within the United States, while the Republican Party is commonly known as the United States'right-wing party. There are a few major differences between the political system of the United States and that of most other developed democracies. These include greater power in the upper house of the legislature, a wider scope of power held by the Supreme Court, the separation of powers between the legislature and the executive, and the dominance of only two main parties.

Politics. The origin

Politics is the process of making decisions that apply to members of a group. It refers to achieving and exercising positions of governance - organized control over a human community, particularly a state. In modern nation states, people have formed political parties to represent their ideas. They agree to take the same position on many issues, and agree to support the same changes to law and the same leaders.

An election is usually a competition between different parties. Some examples of political parties are the African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa, the Tories in Great Britain and the Indian National Congress. Politics is a multifaceted word. It has a set of fairly specific meanings that are descriptive and nonjudgmental (such as "the art or science of government" and "political principles"), but often does carry a connotation of dishonest malpractice. 

The negative connotation of politics, as seen in the phrase "play politics", for example, has been in use since at least 1.853, when abolitionist Wendell Phillips declared: "We do not play politics; anti-slavery is no half-jest with us". A variety of methods are deployed in politics, which include promoting one's own political views among people, negotiation with other political subjects, making laws, and exercising force, including warfare against adversaries.

Politics is exercised on a wide range of social levels, from clans and tribes of traditional societies, through modern local governments, companies and institutions up to sovereign states, to the international level. It is very often said that politics is about power. A political system is a frame work which defines acceptable political methods within a given society. History of political thoughtcan be traced back to early antiquity, with seminal works such as Plato's Republic, Aristotle's Politics and the works of Confucious.

Political system in Castile-La Mancha

Castilla-La Mancha, sometimes written in English as Castile-La Mancha, is a south-western European region that was part of the Kingdom of Castile and one of the seventeen autonomous communities of modern Spain. It is bordered by Castile and Lion, Madrid, Aragon, Valencia, Murcia, Andalusia and Extremadura. It is one of the most sparsely populated of Spain's autonomous communities.

Albacete is the largest and most populous city. Its capital city is Toledo, and its judicial capital city is Albacete. Castile-La Mancha was formerly grouped with the province of Madrid into New Castile (Castilla La Nueva), but with the advent of the modern Spanish system of autonomous regions (Estado de las autonomías), it was separated due to great demographic disparity between the capital and remaining New-Castilian provinces.

Also, distinct from the former New Castile, Castile-La Mancha added the province of Albacete, which had been part of Murcia; adding Albacete placed all of the historic region of La Mancha within this single region. Article 8 of the Statute of Autonomy states that the powers of the region are exercised through the Junta of Communities of Castilla-La Mancha (JCCM). Organs of the Junta are the Cortes of Castilla-La Mancha, the President of the Junta and the Council of Government.

The Cortes of Castilla-La Mancha represent the popular will through 33 deputies elected by universal adult suffrage through the secret ballot. They are elected for a term of four years under a proportional system intended to guarantee representation to the various territorial zones of Castilla-La Mancha. The electoral constituency is at the level of each province, with provinces being assigned the following number of deputies as of 2009; Albacete 6, Ciudad Real 8, Cuenca, 5, Guadalajara 5 and Toledo 9.

Article 10 of the Statute of Autonomy states that elections will be convoked by the President of the Junta of Communities, following the general, following the General Electoral Regime (Régimen Electoral General), on the fourth Sunday in May every four years. This stands in contrast to the autonomous communities of the Basque Country, Catalonia, Galicia, Andalusia and the Valencian Community where the president has the power to the convoke elections at any time. (In the Valencian Community that power has never been exsercised. Elections there have, in practice, taken place on a four year cycle).

Since the Spanish regional elections of 2015, the Cortes of Castilla-La Mancha has consisted of 16 deputies from the conservative People's Party, 15 from the socialist PSOE and 2 from the left-wing Podemos. The Cortes sits in the former Franciscan convent in Toledo, the Edificio de San Gil. About the Council of Government we must say that it is the collegial executive organ of the region. It directs regional political and administrative action, excercises and executive function and regulatory powers under the Spanish Constitution of 1978, the Statute of Autonomy, and the laws of the nation and region. The Council of Government consist of the president, vice president (if any) and the Councilors.

Catalonia

The territory that now constitutes the Autonomous communities of Spain Catalonia was first settled during the Middle Palaeolithic era. Like the rest of the Mediterranean side of the Iberian Peninsula, the area was occupied by the Iberians and several Greek and Carthaginian towns were established on the coast before the Roman conquest.

The area that is now Catalonia was the first area of Hispania conquered by the Romans. It then came under Visigothic rule after collapse of the western part of the Roman Empire. In 718, the area was occupied by the Moors and became a part of Muslim ruled Al-Andalus. The Frankish Empire conquered the area from the Muslims, beginning with the conquest of Rousillon in 760 and ending with the conquest of Barcelona in 801, as part or the creation of a larger buffer zone of Christians against Islamic rele counties known as the Marca Hispanica.

In time, the Christians took control of the region, thans not just to the Franks and their Spanish March but also to the Kingdom of Aragon (administrated by the Count of the Barcelona for the King of Aragon, the Crown of Aragon), which would govern those lands from that point onward.

For a considerable time, the Kingdom of Aragon, and its little county and port of Barcelona retained its own laws and languages (i.e.: Aragones and also Catalan). Catalonia was just a county of the Crown of Aragon but this came to an end when the new Bourbon dinasty secured the throne of Spain in the War of Spanish Succession (1702-1714) and made the former Crown of Aragon territories into provinces of the Crown of Castile following the war.

Economically, Catalonia experienced commercial growth in the late 18th century when the Bourbons ended Castile's trade monopoly with Spain's American colonies. The Napoleonic occupation and war in Spain in the early 19th century began a period of political and economic turmoil. In the latter half of the 19th century Catalonia became a center of industrialization.

In the first third of the 20th century, Catalonia several times enjoyed and lost varying degrees of autonomy like other parts of Spain until the Second Spanish Republic confirmed the autonomies of Spain's traditional autonomous regions, including the autonomy of Catalonia and the official use of its language.

Like Madrid, the Basque country and much of Spain, Catalonia fought hard to defend the Second Spanish Republic in the devastating civil war of 1936-1939. With the defeat of the Spanish Republic by the right wing forces of Francisco Franco, the autonomies were cancelled.

In the years after the civil war life was difficult. With Spain devastated and cut off from international trade by boycotts, Catalonia, as a commercial and industrial center, suffered severely. The economic recovery was very slow and it was not until the mid-1950s that the economy reached the prewar levels of 1936. 

In 1959-1974 Spain exerienced the second fastest economic expansion in the world in what became known as the Spanish Miracle and Catalonia prospered greatly from the expansion as Spain's most important industrial and tourist zone. In 1975 Franco died, bringing to an end his dictatorial regime, and in 1978 Catalonia voted overwhelmingly for the new democratic Spanish constitution that recognised Catalonia's autonomy and language.

On the 9 November 2015, parliament approved a Declaration to start the independence process of Catalonia asserting the start of the process to create an independent Catalan state in the form of a republic. The independence motion was passed on 27 October 2017 in the 135-strong Catalan assembly with 70 votes in favour; 10 against and 2 blank ballots, the assembly's speaker said.

Just hours after the Catalan declaration of independence, the Spanish Senate invoked Article 155 of the Spanish constitution and authorised Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's government to impose direct rule over Catalonia. Rajoy declared the dissolution of the Catalan parliament and dismissed Catalonia's regional government, including its leader Carles Puigdemont. Rajoy called a snap election in the region for 21 December 2017.

Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saezde Santamaria was chosen to assume the position of President of Catalonia, as part of the actions that resulted after the activation of Article 155. Santamaria was vested total control over the Catalan administration in addition to being appointed president. Josep Lluis Trapero was also relieved of his duty as chief of the Catalan police force.

But Catalans are fiercely protective of the region's high degree of autonomy, such as direct control over education, healthcare and the police. Mossos d'Esquadra, a group of Catalonia's police favouring independence, has already said its members will not follow instructions from the central government of Spain and will not use force to remove ministers and legislators from power.

European Parliament election 2014

Between 22 and 25 Mayo 2014 elections to the European Parliament will be held in all member states of the European Union (EU). The date was decided unanimously by the Council of the European Union. It will be the eighth Europe-wide election to the European Parliament since the first direct elections in 1979.

The 2014 elections will be held in late May instead or early June as had been the case with previous European Parlament elections. The elections were brought forward in order to provide more time for the election of a president of the European Commision, and because they would otherwise have coincided with the Pentecost weekend wich falls during school holidays in many member states.

The Lisbon Treaty, which entered into force on 1 December 2009, provides that the European Parliament shall elect the president of the European Commision on the basis of a proposal made by the European Council, taking into account the European elections (article 17, paragraph 7 of the Treaty on European Union). This provision will apply for the first time for the 2014 elections.

Nevertheless, major EU politicians such as European Council president Herman Van Rompuy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and former Commission president Jacques Delors have questioned the aspiration of European political parties to link the presidency of the European Commission with the result of the European elections and insist that the future Commission president has to suit Member States expectations first.

No pan-European opinion polls are carried out, however several institutes have compiled predictions of the outcome of the elections based on national polls. Finally, the article 14 of the Treaty of Lisbon lays down that "The European Parliament shall be composed of representatives of the Union´s citizens. They shall not exceed serven hundred and fifty in number, plus the President. Representation of citizens shall be degressively proportional, with a minimun threshold of six members per Member State. No Member State shall be allocated more than ninety-six seats."

Ukranian conflict 2014

Russia-Ukraine relations were established in 1991 immediately upon the dissolution of the Soviet Union of which both were founding constituent republics. Russia has an embassy in Kiev and consulates in Kharkiv, Lviv, Odessa and Simferopol. Ukraine has an embassy in Moscow and consulates in Rostov-on Don, Saint Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Tyumen and Vladivostok.

Relations between the two country´s Governments are complex. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin allegedly declared at a NATO-Russia summit in 2008 that, if Ukraine were to join NATO, his country could contend to annex the Ukrainian East and Crimea. Some analysts believe that the current Russian leadership is determined to prevent an equivalent of the Ukrainian Orange Revolution in Russia. This perspective is supposed to explain not only Russian domestic policy but its sensitivity to events abroad.

Many Ukraine and beyond believe that Russia has periodically used its vast energy resources to bully its smaller, dependent neighbour, but the Russian Government argues insted that it was the internal squabbling amongst Ukraine´s political elite that is to blame for the deadlock. Since the election of Pro-Russian Viktor Yanukovych as Ukrainian President in early 2010 the relations between the two nations had improved.

On may 14, 2013 an unknown veteran of unknown intelligence service (officially-Ukrainian, in reality-Soviet) Sergei Razumovsky, leader of the All-Ukrainian Association of Homeless Officers, who resides in Ukraine under the Ukrainian flag calls on creation of Ukrainian-Russian international volunteer brigades in support of the Bashar al-Assad government in Syria to fight rebels.

The 2014 Crimean crisis is unfolding in the autonomous region of Crimea, Ukraine, in the aftermath of the 2014 Ukrainian revolution, in which the gobernment of President Victor Yanukovych was ousted. Protests were staged by groups of mainly ethnic Russians who opposed the events in Kiev and wanted close ties or integration with Russia, in addition to expanded autonomy or possible independence for Crimea.

Other groups, including Crimean Tartars, protested in support of the revolution. On 27 February, armed men wearing masks seized a number of important buildings in Crimea, including the parliament building and two airports. They destroyed almost all phone and internet service between Crimea and the rest of Ukraine. Under seige, the Supreme Council of Crimea dismissed the autonomous republic´s government and replaced chairman of the Council of Ministers of Crimea, Anatolii Mohyliov with Sergey Aksyonov. Kiev accused Russia of intervening in Ukraine´s internal affairs, while the Russian side officially denied such claims.  

On 1 March, the Russian parliament granted President Vladimir Putin the authority to use military force in Ukraine, following a plea for help from unofficial pro-Moscow leader, Sergey Aksyonov. On the same day, the acting president of Ukraine, Oleksandr Turchynov decreed the appointment of the Prime Minister of Crimea as unconstitutional. He said, "we consider the behavior of the Russian Federation to be direct aggression against the sovereignty of Ukraine."

The Rajoy´s crisis

Mariano Rajoy Brey is the Prime Minister of Spain, elected on 20 November 2011. He has been leader of the People´s Party since 2004. In November 2011, Rajoy´s right-wing People´s Party won its biggest majority since the country´s return to representative democracy in the 1970s, securing 186 out of the 350 seats in the lower house of Parliament. Voters turned to him in hopes of alleviating the pain of Europe´s debt crisis. Following the general election held in 2011. Rajoy was elected Prime Minister by the Congress of Deputies on 21 December 2011.

Corruption in Spain 2014

There are many political corruption legal processes in the post Franco years of democratic Spain indicates coth a social intolerance of the Ancien Régime and a villingness to investigate allegations by a largely young and independent judiciary, despite its senior judges being appintees of parliamentary committees.

Transparency International rated Spain between 2001 to 2012. The average value for Spain during that period was 66,67 points with a maximum of 70 points in 2001 and minimum of 61 points in 2009 and (100 being no corruption). In 2011 it was rated 30th least corrupt country in the world.

 

Political corruption is a large concern in Spain. Transparency International Global Corruption Barometer 2013 shows that the surveyed households consider political parties. Parliament and the judiciary the most corrupt institutions. However, the occurrence of petty corruption is rare in Spain, according the Barometer 2013. Several other sources, including World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report 2013-2014 and Ernst & Young Fraud Survey 2013, show that bribery and corrupt practises are widespread in businesses in Spain. As sugguested in Business Anti-Corruption Portal, anti-corruption strategies should be significantly strengthened at all levels of the government. One example could be to strengthen investigative and prosecution efforts in foreign bribery cases and enforcing existing laws.