To no one's surprise, Antoni Pastor voted against the Balearic Government's changes to the language law which will remove the pre-requisite of speaking Catalan for employment in the public sector. To no one's further surprise, he now finds himself suspended from the Partido Popular and may find himself expelled from the party.
Towing the party line and all that. The reaction of the government and the PP is not so different to that which would obtain in Westminster. Politicians with long and serious faces make pronouncements about the seriousness of going against the wishes of this or that party leadership, political analysts dissect the dissent in terms of "black" Wednesday or Thursday, or whatever day it happens to be for the government, and everyone promptly forgets about it all.
It isn't normal for a Westminster party to expel an MP if he or she votes against it. Not towing the party line can be a career-limiting move but it doesn't normally end totally in tears and the party membership card having to be torn up and tossed into the dustbin of a political career potentially in ruins. In Mallorca, it would seem that it is normal insofar as anything about local politics can be said to be normal, and very little is.
Pastor has voted with his conscience. In a democratic set-up, conscience should be allowed to play a part, but it doesn't unless the "free" vote is applied. On a major policy issue, such as the language, there is no room in the PP's democratic set-up for conscience. You do as you are told, except the leadership knew full well that Pastor wouldn't do as he was told.
Jaume Font, a former ally of Pastor's in the PP and now leader of the breakaway La Lliga, has praised Pastor for his courage, which may well translate as an invitation to come and join him. He might just do that, though one still fancies that he wouldn't. Suspended or not, expelled or not, Pastor still has a great deal of support within the PP rank and file, a point made by one of the party's more important figures, the speaker of the parliament Pere Rotger.
Pastor knows he has this support and as importantly so does the PP party leadership. He is a nuisance, and nuisances to political parties tend to end up in exile, either actually or metaphorically. But he won't be in exile, he will continue to be a parliamentary deputy (as an independent) and mayor of Manacor where he has the support of a majority of other PP councillors. What does the party leadership do about that? Expel the whole of the Manacor branch of the party?
If Pastor is ultimately kicked out of the party, on the face of it this would end any ambitions he might have of becoming its leader. I'm not so sure that it would, though. Pastor's stance is one of a battle over what is the soul of Mallorca. This soul, I used to believe, was one that was largely indifferent and one that would merely shrug its shoulders. It still is but it is far less so than it was, and there are clear examples that the soul of Mallorca is an issue over which many Mallorcans feel strongly. The parents who have rejected overwhelmingly to have their children taught in Castellano instead of Catalan are a case in point.
It is not beyond the bounds of possibility that the PP in the Balearics would undergo a volte-face in official attitudes towards Catalan and regionalism. If the next election were to loom with question marks over Bauzá being able to get re-elected, there might just be a reassessment, and it would be one that might see Pastor brought fully back into the fold. One suspects that this is what he may be counting on and would be why he wouldn't join up with Font. There again, the one great advantage Bauzá has is that there is no coherent opposition worthy of the name. PSOE remains in a state of some disarray, while other parties don't really count.
Three years, though, are a long time. Long enough for there to be change and long enough for the battle over Mallorca's soul to leave some bodies. The question is - whose? Bauzá's or Pastor's? And at the same time as the battleground in the islands starts to become littered with the fallen, another front opens - the European Parliament has heard a complaint from teachers' representatives regarding what they call the institutional harassment of Catalan by the Bauzá government.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Showing posts with label Language law. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Language law. Show all posts
Friday, June 15, 2012
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Pastor faces expulsion from the PP
The mayor of Manacor, Antoni Pastor, who voted against the Partido Popular partly line in the Balearics parliament yesterday in rejecting the government's law that will mean that Catalan is no longer a a pre-requisite for employment in the public sector, faces being expelled from the party. Pastor has defended his position by saying that the party is causing social division through its language policies and he has also been defended by other parties, e.g. La Lliga, whose leader Jaume Font (formerly a PP member) praised his courage.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
The Disunited Front Of Mallorca
Despite Francina Armengol having been slated by a report by her own party that condemned errors she made while president of the Council of Mallorca, she looks odds-on to be the new local leader of PSOE. And in true leadership-in-waiting fashion, she has been engaging in high-level diplomatic discussions with President Bauzá (in that politics in the Balearics can ever be said to be at a high level).
This might give the impression that Francina had initiated these discussions. It would be a false impression. Bauzá has finally deigned to speak to someone from PSOE, and other parties, and explain what the hell he's up to, though you might have thought that they could have figured this out for themselves. But Bauzá appears to have needed to have climbed down from his perch and seek some support from the opposition, given that many within the PP seem intent on deserting him.
Diplomacy to the fore, along with her own leadership aspirations, Francina has called for there to be a united front among the parties in combating the challenges facing the Balearics. This is all good spin-for-public-consumption stuff, but is of course complete rot. PSOE, or rather Armengol, might put on a united-front face, but you can exclude other parties. The PSM socialists, for example, are totally opposed to Bauzá's changes to the language law that would see Catalan disappear as a requirement for public workers. Bauzá has said he won't budge an inch.
Bauzá is placing so much emphasis on the reform of the language law, to the extent that it seems to have become cornerstone legislation of his administration even more than getting the economy right, that he can be seen as being either a strong leader or completely mad. It's a bit of both probably.
There is more than a hint of jealous rivalry about the opposition that Bauzá is encountering within his own party. It is rivalry that stems in part from the fact that he is relatively new to the heights of the PP. He isn't one of the old guard, many of whom have expressed their disquiet with the change to the language law. He is being cast in the role of the André Vilas-Boas of the PP, a young, Chelsea-like manager seeking to mould a team in his own style but coming up against the Terrys and Lampards of the PP dressing-room.
A united front of language will be an impossibility, but what of other government initiatives (such as they are)? There is really only one other, and that is the tourism law. Here, Bauzá has indicated that he might be willing to move. Whether he's told Carlos Delgado, one can't be sure, but the Armengol pow-wow resulted in two things. One was that town hall responsibilities for licences and permissions, which would be threatened under the revised law, would be reconsidered. The other was that he was minded to look again at all-inclusives.
The first of these is something he would do well to stick to his guns on. The town halls don't want to lose power. They should be told to get lost. Reducing their role would lessen bureaucracy, delays and costs. As for all-inclusives, it is intriguing, if nothing else, that Bauzá seems willing to consider them further. But in what way? He hasn't said.
The only provision under the new law that deals with all-inclusives is the ludicrous idea that by stopping tourists taking food and drink off-site this might help local bars and restaurants. It is the only provision in tackling an issue over which the regional government's hands are tied by the demands of tour operators and, to a lesser extent, the hotels themselves.
However, there is something the government could do. It cannot prevent all-inclusives, and nor would it, but it could apply, and in a very strict fashion, standards of service and of quality that would be hard for some hotels to meet. In theory, these standards are already meant to be met, but they clearly are not. The reasons why not are that the investment demanded would be too great and that some hotels would be forced to abandon all-inclusive, thus threatening tour operator relationships and overall tourism competitiveness in Mallorca.
Whether Armengol has any better idea or indeed if Bauzá has any better idea, one would doubt. As is usually the case, politicians can speak of united fronts and of looking again at policies (all-inclusive in this case), but the talk means little, as there is very little they can actually do.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
This might give the impression that Francina had initiated these discussions. It would be a false impression. Bauzá has finally deigned to speak to someone from PSOE, and other parties, and explain what the hell he's up to, though you might have thought that they could have figured this out for themselves. But Bauzá appears to have needed to have climbed down from his perch and seek some support from the opposition, given that many within the PP seem intent on deserting him.
Diplomacy to the fore, along with her own leadership aspirations, Francina has called for there to be a united front among the parties in combating the challenges facing the Balearics. This is all good spin-for-public-consumption stuff, but is of course complete rot. PSOE, or rather Armengol, might put on a united-front face, but you can exclude other parties. The PSM socialists, for example, are totally opposed to Bauzá's changes to the language law that would see Catalan disappear as a requirement for public workers. Bauzá has said he won't budge an inch.
Bauzá is placing so much emphasis on the reform of the language law, to the extent that it seems to have become cornerstone legislation of his administration even more than getting the economy right, that he can be seen as being either a strong leader or completely mad. It's a bit of both probably.
There is more than a hint of jealous rivalry about the opposition that Bauzá is encountering within his own party. It is rivalry that stems in part from the fact that he is relatively new to the heights of the PP. He isn't one of the old guard, many of whom have expressed their disquiet with the change to the language law. He is being cast in the role of the André Vilas-Boas of the PP, a young, Chelsea-like manager seeking to mould a team in his own style but coming up against the Terrys and Lampards of the PP dressing-room.
A united front of language will be an impossibility, but what of other government initiatives (such as they are)? There is really only one other, and that is the tourism law. Here, Bauzá has indicated that he might be willing to move. Whether he's told Carlos Delgado, one can't be sure, but the Armengol pow-wow resulted in two things. One was that town hall responsibilities for licences and permissions, which would be threatened under the revised law, would be reconsidered. The other was that he was minded to look again at all-inclusives.
The first of these is something he would do well to stick to his guns on. The town halls don't want to lose power. They should be told to get lost. Reducing their role would lessen bureaucracy, delays and costs. As for all-inclusives, it is intriguing, if nothing else, that Bauzá seems willing to consider them further. But in what way? He hasn't said.
The only provision under the new law that deals with all-inclusives is the ludicrous idea that by stopping tourists taking food and drink off-site this might help local bars and restaurants. It is the only provision in tackling an issue over which the regional government's hands are tied by the demands of tour operators and, to a lesser extent, the hotels themselves.
However, there is something the government could do. It cannot prevent all-inclusives, and nor would it, but it could apply, and in a very strict fashion, standards of service and of quality that would be hard for some hotels to meet. In theory, these standards are already meant to be met, but they clearly are not. The reasons why not are that the investment demanded would be too great and that some hotels would be forced to abandon all-inclusive, thus threatening tour operator relationships and overall tourism competitiveness in Mallorca.
Whether Armengol has any better idea or indeed if Bauzá has any better idea, one would doubt. As is usually the case, politicians can speak of united fronts and of looking again at policies (all-inclusive in this case), but the talk means little, as there is very little they can actually do.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Pollensa supports Manacor line on language
Pollensa town hall, governed by a coalition of the Partido Popular and La Lliga, has adopted a similar position to that of Manacor in opposing the draft law on the use of Catalan in public service set out by the Balearic Government, a law that would see Catalan removed as a necessity for working in the public service.
Friday, December 30, 2011
MALLORCA TODAY - Language law sparks off opposition
The Balearic Government's proposals for reforming the language law, which would elevate the role of Castilian at the expense of Catalan, have been met with opposition in different quarters. The PP mayor of Manacor, Antoni Pastor, a fierce critic of the proposals, says that there are many others within the PP who feel as he does but are not willing as yet to say so. Santa Margalida town hall has reacted by saying that a new councillor position for language policy will be created, expressly to combat government proposals. The government, meanwhile, is saying that changes to town and street names will not be obligatory but that it will be up to individual town halls to decide. More recipe for confusion therefore?
Thursday, December 29, 2011
MALLORCA TODAY - Criticism of government language law
Proposals by the Balearic Government to amend the language law have brought about criticisms, specifically to do with the removal of a requirement to be able to speak Catalan for workers in the public sector and with the introduction of Castilian names for towns, streets and highways. Criticism has come, for example, from Manacor where the Partido Popular mayor Antoni Pastor has defended the use of Catalan in the public sector. This is further evidence of the split within the PP in the Balearics, led by Pastor, whose criticisms of the government and of President Bauzá and tourism minister Carlos Delgado in particular have yet to receive a response from the government.
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