Languish votes in the Catalan election (Take 2)

[Barrister]

Incel guy is probably the most Barrister-y candidate, but I played dirty and chose a picture without a tie in order to confound him 

[Sheilbh]

[celedhring]

Incidentally, I should point out that scarf lady is very tall and when she puts on heels she tends to tower over most other candidates, men or women.



(this is from the debate among Barcelona candidates for the 2019 Spanish general election, a good way as any to sneak in an Inés pic  )

[Admiral Yi]

The bouncer must be from the Reconquista party.

[Sophie Scholl]

Went with the "Made for TV" movie version of Russell Crowe with glasses, aka 4th from the bottom.

[celedhring]

So, today the Catalan Supreme Court of Justice has finally struck down the decree from the Catalan government cancelling the election planned for Valentine's Day, so we're voting in two weeks! 

Polls are all over the place, some have separatists losing their majority, while others have them increasing it and even getting past the 50% treshold for the first time. With the pandemic, it's hard to predict turnout, although we're having record levels of mail vote.

Voter #4, blond lady.  Hopefully, she's not far left.  The  older lady with a shamanistic baton , the one you know personally, does look far left.

That baton is given to Spanish mayors as symbol of their authority, nothing shamanistic in it 

Went with the "Made for TV" movie version of Russell Crowe with glasses, aka 4th from the bottom.

Can't say I see the resemblance   

[Eddie Teach]

Incidentally, I should point out that scarf lady is very tall and when she puts on heels she tends to tower over most other candidates, men or women.

So maybe Chinless isn't the only incel... 

[saskganesh]

I voted for the Berber.

[celedhring]

Let's proceed with the unveiling then:

1) Jessica Albiach (En Comú Podem). Left-Wing, non-nationalist, pro-federalist. They aim to build a left-wing trans-sectarian coalition government (they would be a minor partner in it). They will fail.

2) Laura Borràs (JxCAT). Right wing, nationalist-populist. Puigdemont's party, which has become even more trumpy after they expelled the moderates a few months ago. Their stated platform is re-declaring independence if they win the election and there's a separatist majority, and "mobilizing the people to defend the Republic". Nobody believes them besides the most gullible/deranged of their voters, but they are in a close race.

3) Carlos Carrizosa (C's). Liberal, anti-nationalist. They won the election in 2017 (without being able to form a majority), but polls are predicting they'll lose 2/3 of their vote, completing a disastrous cycle for the party, both nationally and regionally.

4) Àngels Chacón (PDeCAT). Right wing, nationalist. The moderate splinter off JxCAT (although technically it's the opposite). They dream of a return to 1990s-2000s nationalist politics. Most polls have them failing to win any MP, but they are not out of the race.

5) Alejandro Fernández (PP). Right wing, unionist. These are the main Spanish conservative party. Dude's actually the best Catalan MP they have had in ages but he indeed looks like an incel and it's a bit too little too late after years of terrible candidates.

6) Salvador Illa (PSC). Socdem, unionist. Former Minister of Health in the Spanish government. Some polls give him a chance to win the election (although I can't see a scenario where he could build a coalition).

7) Ignacio Garriga (Vox). Far right, Spanish nationalist. The "we're not racist!" token guy which they run in every election they can. Polls give them a pretty presentable result, with 5-6 seats (tied with PP)

8) Dolors Sabater (CUP). Far-left nationalist. They used to be the most radical separatist party, but Sabater is more moderate than past candidates (which has raised some controversy within the party). So they are not in favor of re-declaring independence until there's a larger internal majority that makes it more likely to be implemented. Her non-nationalist politics are also more moderate (they are usually the COLLECTIVIZE EVERYTHING! party).

9) SARS-CoV-2. He's running a very successful campaign. Infectious slogans and he kills it in packed venues.

10) Pere Aragonès (ERC). Left-wing, nationalist. He's the current acting president. Under him the party has tried to go moderate, attempting to become the Catalan SNP. Progressive politics, civic nationalism, yadda dada. They were leading the polls decisively a few months ago, but they have been badly burnt by the Covid crisis (the government is a coalition with JxCAT, but ERC runs the Health, Welfare, and Employment Departments), and they have been steadily losing ground. Doesn't help that Aragonès has the charisma of a paperweight.

[crazy canuck]

6) Salvador Illa (PSC). Socdem, unionist. Former Minister of Health in the Spanish government. Some polls give him a chance to win the election (although I can't see a scenario where he could build a coalition).

Not having enough in common with the others to form a coalition seems to be one of the best endorsements.

[viper37]

4) Àngels Chacón (PDeCAT). Right wing, nationalist. The moderate splinter off JxCAT (although technically it's the opposite). They dream of a return to 1990s-2000s nationalist politics.

Ah, I knew I picked the right one!  Business suit, conference room in the background, I knew it!!   

Most polls have them failing to win any MP, but they are not out of the race.

Damn!

[viper37]

That baton is given to Spanish mayors as symbol of their authority, nothing shamanistic in it 

ok, maybe
But I was right with her being far left! 

[celedhring]

So, news of the day is that JxCAT have backtracked on their "if we win, we'll make an UDI" promise and amended to "if we win, we'll make an UDI whenever we believe it's feasible to do so" (so, not anytime soon). So that means no party with a realistic chance of winning will attempt to immediately destroy the country if they win. It's a low bar, but these are the times we live in.

In other news, 10% of people selected to man the polling stations on election day have asked to be released of that duty, mostly because of pandemic fears.

[crazy canuck]

So, news of the day is that JxCAT have backtracked on their "if we win, we'll make an UDI" promise and amended to "if we win, we'll make an UDI whenever we believe it's feasible to do so" (so, not anytime soon). So that means no party with a realistic chance of winning will attempt to immediately destroy the country if they win. It's a low bar, but these are the times we live in.

In other news, 10% of people selected to man the polling stations on election day have asked to be released of that duty, mostly because of pandemic fears.

Somebody did some research of how the PQ in Canada has dealt with the separatist question.

[celedhring]

Big news of today - even though they won't affect the winner of this election - was that a former treasurer of PP, currently in jail for corruption, directly implicated former Spanish president Mariano Rajoy on the party's shady dealings. Rajoy was already ousted as PM after a court found that the party "had benefited" from corruption, but he had not been indicted himself.

This comes at a moment where some polls have Vox gaining ground on PP, and are giving them a chance of finishing above them in the Catalan election. This would be the first time Vox placed over PP in an election, and it would be... not nice. As much as I loathe PP they are like a thousand times preferable to the far right cunts from Vox. Ok, maybe just a hundred times.