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WORLD NEWS Saturday 21 OctOber 2017
Power to the people: 2 Italy regions to hold autonomy votes

By COLLEEN BARRY nearly one-quarter of the
Associated Press nation’s electorate.
VERONA, Italy (AP) — It is Both regions are run by the
greater autonomy __ not anti-migrant, anti-Europe
independence __ that two Northern League, which
of Italy’s wealthiest regions has found allies for auton-
are seeking in a pair of ref- omy in other center-right
erendums Sunday, yet Cat- parties like former Premier
alonia’s secessionist ambi- Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Ita-
tions in nearby Spain loom lia and the populist 5-Star
large over the debate. Movement. They hope
While the presidents of to spread the autonomy
Lombardy and Veneto in model to other Italian re-
northern Italy are cam- gions.
paigning on the econom- In Veneto, the secession-
ic benefits of loosening ist fringe stirs the indepen-
Rome’s grip, identity poli- dence waters by appeal-
tics also is playing a role, ing to a common identity:
particularly in Veneto, heir a shared Veneto dialect,
to the once-vast Venetian traditional poor man’s fare
Republic, where a political like polenta, a self-image of
fringe has never given up hard-workers whose family-
on secession even though run businesses helped pow-
that’s been long aban- er Italy’s post-war econom- In this Sunday, June 1, 2008 file photo, Roberto Maroni, left, and Luca Zaia attend the annual
doned by the governing ic boom. meeting of the Lega Nord, Northern League party, in Pontida, Italy. It is greater autonomy, not
Northern League party. Not least, there is also the independence, that two of Italy’s wealthiest regions are seeking in a pair of referendums Sunday,
Both Veneto President proud history of the Vene- yet Catalonia’s secessionist ambitions loom over the debate. (AP Photo/Alberto Pellaschiar)
Luca Zaia and his Lombard tian Republic, which for
counterpart Roberto Ma- over 1,000 years dominat- Playing on an identity as It- dums elsewhere in Italy legal weight, is not needed
roni emphasize the legal ed a vast territory compris- aly’s underdogs, they note and among the center-left, to trigger autonomy ne-
nature of the referendums, ing Veneto, parts of Lom- widespread skepticism of with critics arguing that the gotiations and is a costly
which were approved by bardy and much of the the autonomy referen- non-binding vote carries no waste of resources.q
Italy’s constitutional court. eastern Mediterranean.
In contrast, the Oct. 1 One Veneto separatist
Catalan independence group, Plebescito.eu, is
referendum was declared vowing to resume the in-
illegal and vigorously op- dependence campaign
posed by the central Span- once Sunday’s referen-
ish government in Madrid. dum has been held. An-
Still, the autonomy drive is a other party, Veneto Inde-
powerful threat to Rome’s pendence, was behind a
authority. failed attempt to get con-
Together, Veneto and stitutional court approval
Lombardy account for 30 for a Veneto referendum
percent of Italy’s GDP and on independence.

Spanish PM to unveil measures
to counter Catalan separatists

By ARITZ PARRA had been agreed upon as
Associated Press part of the deal. Prime Min-
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — ister Mariano Rajoy, com-
Spain’s prime minister says menting on the unprece-
his government will unveil dented constitutional step
specific measures Saturday his government is taking to
to halt Catalonia’s inde- assume control of Catalo-
pendence bid but refused nia, said on the sidelines of
to confirm if that included a European Union summit
plans to hold a regional in Brussels that “the goal is
election in January. double: the return to legal-
The opposition Socialists ity and the recovery of insti-
are supporting the conser- tutional normalcy.”
vative government’s ef- The move is likely to further
fort to rein in the country’s inflame tensions between
deepest political crisis in Spain and Catalonia’s pro-
decades. The Socialists’ independence activists.
main negotiator, Carmen Catalonia’s government
Calvo, said earlier Friday says it has the mandate to
that an early election in secede from Spain after it
the prosperous northeast- held a disputed referen-
ern region of Catalonia dum on Oct. 1. q