jueves, 14 de septiembre de 2017

Similarities between Catalan and Turkish referendum (EN)

In April 16 2017, Turks voted on a new constitution which fundamentally changed the nature of the Turkish government. Turkey would change from a parliamentary system led by a prime minister to a president who theoretically stands above politics. The president would choose all the ministers as well as any number of vice presidents, seeking one party or even one-man rule. It won yes by 51% of votes with 85% participation. Therefore people voted "democratically" to move to dictatorship.


The referendum passed because President Erdogan and his personal security militia have monopolized the media and worked to shut down opposition campaigning.

In Catalonia all subsidized media (television,newspaper) are cleary pro independence. In the school they teach youngster to hate Spain, manipulating history. The hard independence movement started with Artur Mas, that was Spanish monarchic friendly before 2013. He was put by finger by former president Pujol.  When Pujol's family stop enjoying Catalan heaven during decades (stealing around hundred milions euros from Catalan people) and Madrid started suing them, they changed and backed independence movement. When the more they were prosecuted, the more they intensified the gears of independence (hotting environment through public media and organizations). The last president of Catalonia, Puigdemont, was put also by finger (nobody voted him) by Mas (Pujol corrupt lobby of latest 30 years). So the lobby tries to perpetuing in corruption and whitening through fraudly referendums.


Same fake referendum, same advertising, same recommended answer and same newspaper to support Franco dictatorship for life, done half a century before. Now in Catalonia happens the same but conversely.







The voting took place in a government-created atmosphere of violence, intimidation, and fear. Turks campaigning against the referendum were attacked and even shot at.

Try to walk with a big Spanish flag in the Diada, Camp Nou or calmly in the street in Barcelona or northern town. You'll notice the harrasment soon. Mayors of several cities that rejected to allow using their premises for voting were hounded. Children that ask to have some hours in public school using their mother tongue are stigmatized as "facha", "peperos", demonstrating that brainwashing and soft harrasing starts at very early stage in public school with the help of the clowns of the public television.


A hundred thousand government employees have been fired, and a hundred and seventy-nine television stations, newspapers, and other media outlets have been closed.

If you are pro independence and better have catalan surnames, you get easily better jobs inside some of the hundreds useless organizations (public or private) funded by Generalitat and get fast quick free promotion for your business. Otherwise you should struggle to find good jobs in Catalonia, and you don't exist on the public media and public tenders, a big constraint for your business. All public tenders ends to local companies. One hilariuous case was a local consulting company that started receiving milionary contracts from the Generalitat after they... hired the brother in law of Artur Mas with a fake internal position. This happens hundreds of times in Catalonia.

“Half the country loves him, and half the country loathes him.”

Neverendum in Catalonia last years has ended with pointless social confrontation and polarization in two groups. They hate each other but don't know exactly why. That's called social enginery by Huxley.

The president will choose all ambassadors and constitutional court judges without submitting them to parliamentary questioning or approval.

Nationalist lobby seeks to control judges to gain immunity against all corruption and robberies they have done last decade to Catalan people, with sight to perpetuate them and their friends. If they want to promote a new country, they do on the worst way: putting their families in Catalan embassies, ruling utility and toll companies, controlling banks. So what can we expect on this new Catalan country than just a replicated  little shit of what we have currently in Spain?

Direct democracy is not the best solution. Their supporters put as reference Switzerland, but Swiss do always referendums for things not related with the country structure (never will allow rich cantons to be independent from others), and ask questions that would be impossible in Catalonia (they polled about banning mosques, stop immigration...).

Therefore direct democracy can be good just for trivial questions in which the right of minories cannot be jeopardized. For complex ones is absurd to do referendums, that's why we have and pay the politicians we elect. People cannot read hundreds of pages about economic implications of their options, they just google as in Brexit finding "South Europe - lazybones - live from our taxes" being easily misguided, destructing their own countries as consequence of an impulsive choice.

Here some other samples of outcome of referendums: one led Iran to establish Islamic Republic in 1979, therefore starting a theocracy security state without freedoms.

Referendums are used by dictators who used the plebiscite to disguise oppressive policies as populism. Dictators may also make use of referendums as well as show elections to further legitimize their authority, samples:

  • Benito Mussolini in 1934
  • Adolf Hitler in 1936
  • Ferdinand Marcos in 1973
  • Park Chung-hee in 1972
  • Francisco Franco in 1947

Hitler's use of plebiscites is argued as the reason why, since World War II, there has been no provision in Germany for the holding of referendums at the federal level. They do referendums for light matters such smoking ban in gastronomy, 2010. But others like "Dexit" polls are banned because Hitler abused polls and claimed Dachau Jews supported him. Are then Germans less democratics than Catalans for not allowing populists referendums?

Franco 1947 referendum was weird: if he won then he would be appointed Head of State for life. What happened? He won by 93% of voter with 88% of participation. Much better figures than the Catalonian dress rehearsal referendums done last 5 years.

So are you really still interested on populist referendums in an environment of lack of freedom, media and education control, and harrasment to the dissidents?



samples of use of public spaces to promote just one of the options. Market cost to use such spaces would be tens of thousands of euros for dissidents, whilst free for who controls the media. 

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