Citizens – Party of the Citizenry
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
|
|
|
|---|---|
|
Ciutadans - Partit de la Ciutadania
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
| President | Albert Rivera |
| General Secretary | Manuel García Bofill |
|
|
|
| Founded | June 7, 2005 (CC) March 4, 2006 (C's) |
| Headquarters | Plaça Urquinaona, 6 10º A 08010 Barcelona |
|
|
|
| Ideology | Antinationalism, Social liberalism, Laicism[1] |
| International affiliation | None |
| European affiliation | Libertas[2] |
| European Parliament Group | Currently no MEPs |
| Official colours | Orange and White |
|
|
|
| Website http://www.ciudadanos-cs.org/ |
|
The Citizens – Party of the Citizenry (Ciutadans – Partit de la Ciutadania in Catalan, in Spanish Ciudadanos – Partido de la Ciudadanía; short acronym C's) is a Spanish political party which describes itself as Centre-Left and Non-Nationalist[3].
Those opposed to this new party, especially within Catalan nationalism, claim that Ciutadans actually represents a repackaged and rebranded Spanish nationalism.[4][5][6]
Ciutadans is currently led by Albert Rivera.
Ciutadans was formed in Catalonia in July 2006 in response to the call made in a manifesto by a group of Catalan intellectuals critical of Catalan nationalism for a new political party to "address the real problems faced by the general public". In this manifesto, they also warned that "the rhetoric of hatred promulgated by official Catalan government media against everything 'Spanish' is more alarming than ever" and that "the (Catalan) nation, postulated as an homogenous entity, has taken occupation of the space where an undeniably diverse society lives".[7]
Particular topics cited by C members are the laws that promote the use of Catalan in Catalonia and those which mandate that State education should be taught only in Catalan. The party is dedicated "to contributing fresh ideas, to impel new policies and to restore a sense of reality to Catalan and Spanish political policy after years of Basque and Catalan ultra-nationalism". Other topics include a vast reform of the Spanish electoral system, and Spanish constitution, as well as regulation of prostitution, marihuana and euthanasia. In its first elections it managed to obtain three deputies at the regional Parliament of Catalonia with 3.04% of the vote.
Contents |
[edit] Status
Ciutadans' meetings have been picketed and its members harassed by Catalan independentist groups on several occasions[8] while its leader Albert Rivera has received anonymous death threats urging him to quit politics.[9][10][11][12].
Ciutadans complains about the fact that, despite its representation at the regional parliament, its presence on the public broadcaster TV3 is virtually vetoed. In this regard, they cite that over the three months spanning April to June 2008, the party only appeared for a total of 23 seconds on that public TV channel, less than, say, some non Catalan parties[13].
Although the party was created in Catalonia as "a response to Catalan nationalism", additional branches have sprung up in the rest of Spain.
[edit] European election internal feud
In 2009 it was announced that Citizens would run for the European election allied with the eurosceptic Libertas coalition. Other partners in the Libertas ticket include parties deemed by some as far-right or ultra-Catholic, something which would seem to contradict the social-liberal and secular stances of C's.
According to some members of C's, the negotiations prior to this electoral pact were led personally and secretly by the party leader, Albert Rivera. This fact has alienated the other two MPs (besides Rivera himself) and a significant part of the party from his leadership[14]. In turn, the official stance of Ciutadans is that the critics are acting more as a fifth column of the ideologically close UPyD party[15], all resulting in a major crisis within the party.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ [3]
- ^ [http://www.diagonalperiodico.net/spip.php?article5308
- ^ [4]
- ^ [5]
- ^ Manifesto signed by some intellectuals which preceded the formation of the party
- ^ Agreden al periodista Arcadi Espada en un acto de Ciutadans de Catalunya en Girona contra el Estatut | elmundo.es
- ^ El presidente de Ciutadans, amenazado de muerte por "luchar contra el nacionalismo" - 20minutos.es
- ^ Albert Rivera es amenazado de muerte para que deje la política / EL MUNDO
- ^ El presidente de Ciutadans denuncia haber recibido amenazas de muerte · ELPAÍS.com
- ^ Albert Rivera denuncia amenazas de muerte para que deje su política "contra el nacionalismo"- Lavanguardia.es - Noticias, actualidad, última hora en Cataluña y España
- ^ [6]
- ^ [7]
- ^ [8]
|
||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
