October 22, 2017

Hundreds of thousands of Catalan protesters demonstrated in Barcelona on Saturday against the imposition of direct rule from Madrid/ The prize for best Romanian documentary at the Astra Film Festival in Sibiu went to Radu Judes Dead Country

Mihai Pelin, 22.10.2017, 14:11

CATALONIA – Hundreds of thousands of Catalan protesters, together with the Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, demonstrated in Barcelona on Saturday against the imposition of direct rule from Madrid. The Catalan society is deeply split over the independence issue. The Council of Ministers which convened on Saturday in an emergency meeting decided to call on the Senate to authorise the sacking of the separatist leader Carles Puigdemont and the dissolution of the Catalan government, whose prerogatives will be taken over by ministers in the central government. Evoking, as a premiere, article 155 in the Spanish Constitution-which allows for suspending a regions autonomy if it does not comply with its obligations to the state- Rajoy also called for the dissolution of the Catalan Parliament and for holding elections in that region in six months time. The measures are expected to be endorsed on October 27 by the Senate, where Mariano Rajoys Peoples Party holds a majority and where he secured the support of the Socialist PSOE, the main opposition party, and of the Ciudadanos centrist party.

ITALY – After Catalonia, two of the most prosperous regions in Italy, go to the polls today to vote in a consultative referendum on greater autonomy. The region of Lombardia, which also includes Milan, as well as the region of Veneto, with the capital in Venice, which together produce 30% of Italys GDP, are inviting their citizens to vote for greater autonomy from Rome. Initiated by the local governors, both of them right wing politicians of the Northern League, a party which has played with a pro-secession idea, the vote is intended to provide more power to the regional authorities relative to spending, immigration, education and healthcare. Five of Italys regions are already enjoying more power, including Sardinia and Sicily. In Lombardia, this vote is also a premiere, as it is an electronic vote, which is cast by means of modern tablets, which thus replace the stamp. Traditional voting methods will however be kept in Veneto. Unlike the independence referendum in Catalonia, which has been declared illegal by the Spanish Government, the Italian Constitution allows for such a vote to be held.

THE CZECH ELECTION – Populist billionaire candidate Andrej Babis and his party have won the general election in the Czech Republic. Babis, 63, is the country’s second-richest man and campaigned on an anti-establishment and Euro-sceptic platform. With all votes counted, his centrist movement ANO (Yes) collected a share of almost 30%, nearly three times that of its closest rival. Turnout stood at some 61%. Babis is now set to become prime minister after coalition negotiations. He said he had invited everyone for talks but added he was not prepared to cooperate with either the far-right party or the Communist Party.

MEASLES EPIDEMIC – The number of deaths caused by measles in Romania has reached 35, data released by the National Public Health Institute show. A total number of 9,670 cases have been confirmed, in 41 counties. Romania is facing the most severe measles epidemic in the past years. The large number of confirmed cases and deaths has prompted the World Health Organisation to include Romania among the five countries which overall, register 80% of the total number of confirmed cases of measles at world level.

FILM – The Astra Film Festival in Sibiu chose its winners on Saturday. The prize for best Romanian documentary went to Radu Judes Dead Country. The film is a hybrid between a documentary and an essay, based on documents kept in the Romanian archives and dating back to the 1930-1940 period. The best international documentary prize went to the Chinese film Another Year, which tells the story of a modest family from China, spanning 13 months. In the Central and Eastern Europe section, the jury awarded the best documentary prize to the Polish Film “First Communion. The Excellency Prize went to director Iosif Demian, settled in Australia. His film “Rainbow Balloons, shot 35 years ago and banned by the Communist censorship, was officially launched at this years edition of the Astra Film Festival.

HANDBALL – Romanias women handball champion, CSM Bucuresti, is today meeting away from home the Danish team Nykobing Falster Handball, in the third round of the Champions League Group A. In the first two matches, CSM defeated the Slovenian team RK Krim Mercator Ljubljana, on home turf, 30-18, and the Polish team Vistal Gdynia, 34-23, away from home. CSM Bucuresti won the Champions League in 2016 and is one of the favourites in the current edition of the strongest European inter-clubs competition.