中国繁育最美蛇

UK: Truss is muddy water still Sunak may not get a chance_我的网站

薛平贵与王宝钏

A | BARCELONA, Spain -- Barcelona accountant Oriol Calvo ran afoul of the law when he was arrested in 2019 during a mass protest by supporters of Catalonia's independence from Spain that turned violent. A court found him guilty of public disorder and of aggressive behavior toward a police officer — offenses he denies. The 25-year-old is among several thousand ordinary citizens who faced legal trouble for their often tiny part in Catalonia’s illegal secession bid that brought Spain to the brink of rupture six years ago.Now Calvo hopes his conviction and those of many others will be wiped clean if Spain’s acting prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, follows through and issues a sweeping amnesty for the separatists in exchange for their movement's political parties helping him form a new government in Madrid.Calvo's sentence of 18 months was suspended since it was his first offense, but it is still a stain on his record and has affected his willingness to participate in politics. He has stopped going to rallies for independence for fears that it could complicate his legal situation. He also felt betrayed.“I became very bitter,” Calvo said. “I felt betrayed by the justice system, but also I thought about all the efforts that the movement had made in the fight to achieve independence that had gotten us nowhere.”Sánchez, who has granted pardons to several leaders of the movement in the past, says that the amnesty will be positive for Spain because it will further reduce tensions inside Catalonia. Yet no one doubts that he is doing it only out of political necessity given how divisive the Catalan independence movement is both inside Catalonia and the rest of Spain.A national election in July left no party close to an absolute majority and with Sánchez in need of the support of several smaller parties to stay in power. Those include two pro-secession Catalan parties who led the unsuccessful 2017 breakaway attempt and who now find themselves holding the key votes in Parliament that Sánchez requires. Given the chance to play kingmaker, the two separatist parties are using their leverage. They have made an amnesty law as a prerequisite for supporting Sánchez.The clock is already ticking. Sánchez has until Nov. 27 to form a government, otherwise new elections will be triggered for January.Sánchez and his center-left Socialist party have tried to keep as quiet as possible on the amnesty question, but the leader has acknowledged that talks are on-going with the Catalan parties, including one led by the fugitive former regional leader of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, who fled Spain for Belgium after his dream to carve out a new state in northeast Spain collapsed.Spain’s courts are still trying to have Puigdemont extradited. Given that Puigdemont is considered an enemy of the state for many Spaniards, any deal that could benefit him is politically toxic.Tens of thousands of people rallied in downtown Barcelona on Oct. 8 against a possible amnesty in a sign of the danger that Sánchez runs.An amnesty "would be shameful because Spain can’t be governed by people who want to split from the country,” said 23-year-old Pablo Seco, an aeronautical engineer who attended the rally.For Montserrat Nebrera, professor of constitutional law at the International University of Catalonia, the negotiations between Sánchez and the separatist leaders are a “hall of mirrors” wherein both sides try to appear that they have the upper hand, when in reality they need one another.“Pedro Sánchez needs the amnesty law to pass so he can get the four votes he is lacking,” Nebrera told the AP. “The secessionists, however, also need to show their people that they are not only interested in saving the necks of their leaders ... but also of the people who disobeyed authorities or damaged public property and whose punishments, while not huge, have greatly complicated their lives.”Spain’s conservative party, which lost a bid to form a government last month, is already bashing Sánchez for what it describes as selling Spain out to stay in power. Former Socialist prime minister Felipe González has also said that the amnesty is not merited.Spain granted a sweeping amnesty during its transition back to democracy following the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975. But legal experts are divided over the constitutionality of an amnesty for the Catalan separatists.The pro-independence Catalan organization Omnium Cultural says that an amnesty should benefit some 4,400 more people, mostly minor officials and ordinary citizens who either helped to organize an illegal 2017 referendum or participated, like Calvo, in protests that turned ugly.But Omnium and the two Catalan separatist parties say they want much more than just a clean slate for people in trouble with the law: they want the terms of the amnesty to establish a legal pretext for Catalonia eventually holding a binding, authorized referendum on independence.“For us, the amnesty is not the solution to the conflict, it is the starting point from which the conflict can begin to be resolved,” said Xavier Antich, president of Omnium Cultural.That going-for-broke position, however, may run the risk of wrecking the whole operation, as well as leaving people like Calvo in the lurch.“They have already tried to have a referendum authorized and it has not worked,” Calvo said. “So I believe that trying to force something that we know isn’t going to happen is useless and could derail the amnesty talks.”___Videojournalist Hernán Muñoz contributed to this report.。 London, Oct 15 (UNI) Liz Truss is facing a backlash from Conservative MPs after firing her chancellor and announcing a second U-turn on a major economic policy.

Rishi Sunak-backers say "dissatisfaction is so high", however, making place for another PM in quick succession is not something the party can afford.

One former minister told the BBC: "we cannot go on like this indefinitely". However, several of Boris Johnson's supporters would do anything to stop Indian-origin Sunak from taking over.

Another Tory MP said the party was in a "state of despair" after the PM's Downing Street news conference.

Truss supporter Christopher Chope said "time will tell" if she had done enough to secure her position but those plotting to remove her were "hyenas".

Sir Christopher said: "We can't possibly force another prime minister out of office, we've just got to calm down and try to give the prime minister our support."

On Friday, Truss sacked her chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, and reversed a key policy to scrap the planned rise in corporation tax from 19 to 25 per cent. The statement marks the second major U-turn on the mini-budget after Truss cancelled her plan to scrap the top rate of income tax earlier this month.

The U-turn on corporation tax is "going to be damaging to the prospects for growth" and is "totally inconsistent" with what she said during the campaign, Sir Christopher said.

Conservative MP for Coalville, Andrew Bridgen, said he thinks "there'll be a challenge to Truss in the next few weeks".

Bridgen, who backed Rishi Sunak to be leader, said: "Dissatisfaction is so high in the parliamentary party.

"Removing Kwasi Kwarteng when he implemented the policies she asked him to do won't engender loyalty to her."

On September 23, Kwarteng unveiled a so-called mini-budget to deliver the prime minister's vision, announcing the biggest package of tax cuts in decades. But the mini-budget spooked financial markets and sparked a revolt among Tory MPs, who urged the prime minister to drop parts of her economic plan to shore up the UK's finances.

Privately many Conservative MPs admit they have gone through despondency and into despair over the past 24 hours, the BBC said.

By going back on her promise to cut taxes she has now alienated some of those who backed her in the leadership contest for her "bold" approach.

It is not hard to find Tory MPs who think her time is up.

One former backer told the BBC, Truss had "appointed her successor," by bringing in Jeremy Hunt as chancellor. "Sadly I think that hastened her demise," the Conservative MP said.

Another MP called Truss's news conference "a mega-disaster". They said: "She will have to resign - she is worse than Corbyn."

Truss insisted she would stay on as prime minister to see through her "mission" to get the economy growing.

"I'm absolutely determined to see through what I promised - to deliver a higher growth, more prosperous United Kingdom to see us through the storm we face," Truss said.

The eight-minute news conference came after a dramatic day in which the prime minister fired Kwarteng after he returned early from a US summit.

Members of Truss's cabinet are not in open revolt. Many allies have been tweeting support for her and the new chancellor, Hunt.

Former chancellor Nadhim Zahawi tweeted: "It's time to get Britain moving. We are determined to grow the economy, eliminate the Covid backlog and protect people from Putin's energy warfare."

In a tweet, Deputy Prime Minister Therese Coffey - a close ally of Truss - said the prime minister was "right to act now to ensure our country's economic stability".

And Business and Energy Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg tweeted: "As a government, we must now get on and deliver the pro-growth reforms that will lay the foundations for our future prosperity."

The Liberal Democrats and the SNP have called for a general election, while shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said a new government led by Labour is "what this country needs".

Truss has ruled out a general election until 2024.

Many in the parliamentary Conservative party think they have to avoid another drawn-out leadership contest where Tory members have the final say.

The idea cropping up most is a joint ticket with former chancellor Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt. But after 12 years in power, under four different leaders, there are many old scores to settle in the Tory Party, the BBC said.

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